Russia’s attack drones now jam the cheap interceptors sent to kill them
The jammer reads the interceptor's own video frequency, then floods it—blinding the operator who steers the drone.
Ukraine's inexpensive interceptor drones have been successfully shooting down Russian long-range attack drones that target Ukrainian cities each night. In response, Russia has equipped some of its drones with a jamming system to counteract the cheap interceptors, according to Serhii Flash Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's President on defense technology.
The jamming unit, attached to a Geran drone similar to Iran's Shahed one-way drone, listens for the video signal the Ukrainian interceptor sends back to its pilot. By detecting the interceptor's working frequency, the jammer sends a barrage of noise onto that channel, effectively blocking the signal and preventing the interceptor from guiding itself to its target.
The jammer is estimated to be five times stronger than the video link of the interceptor, rendering the picture unreadable and the target untraceable. The system typically takes about three seconds to detect a test transmitter and activate the jamming, with the unit remaining dormant otherwise. Although Russia has attempted various methods to equip its drones with jamming capabilities, the effectiveness of cheap Ukrainian interceptors continues to pose a significant challenge.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
