“The days are long gone when EW complex looked like six trailers standing side by side”: Russia’s Starlink jammers go undercover, defense adviser says
Russia is building more jammers to blind Ukraine’s Starlink and hiding them. Serhii Beskrestnov suggests each covers 25 sq km and tells drone crews where to look.
The era of the Russia Electronic Warfare (EW) complex appearing as six trailers placed side by side has long since passed, according to Serhii Beskrestnov, an electronic warfare expert known as Flash who advises Ukraine's president. Russian forces have concealed almost every critical site in occupied Crimea with these jammers and continue to deploy more of them along the frontlines.
Starlink, the link that many Ukrainian strike and reconnaissance drones rely on, is being targeted by these jamming systems, gradually weakening Ukraine's cheap drone war. Russia is not only increasing the number of these jammers but also closely guarding them from detection. The systems work within a 25 square kilometer area, shielding important facilities in Crimea while pushing more of this electronic warfare towards the frontlines.
The hardware has evolved, and the traditional six-trailer setup is no longer in use. "The days are long gone when this EW complex looked like six trailers standing side by side on one site," Beskrestnov stresses. The core of the system consists of satellite prime-focus antennas approximately a meter in diameter. Due to the need for an unobstructed view of the sky, their concealment is challenging.
The experts suggest keeping an eye out for truck lots, small trailers, and opaque greenhouses as potential hiding spots. Truck parking lots offer an ideal camouflage location, with three to six trucks potentially concealing the complex among dozens of vehicles. Russia has figured out how to mount a single antenna in small car trailers spaced across an area, while an opaque canopy or sheeting can be used to conceal the system.
Contrary to the belief that the jammer requires a significant power source and must be near an electrical substation, it is capable of functioning even from generators. The system operates in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, which Ukraine has linked to the Russian Starlink jammers destroyed on the frontlines.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
