In attempts to make its long-range kamikaze drones harder to kill, Russia is now wiring electronic warfare into some of its Shahed attack drones to fend off the Ukrainian interceptor drones, Ukraine's first deputy defense minister told Business Insider. A top Ukrainian official played down the modification, and a US analyst says its early results look mixed. The jammers are only the newest in a run of Russian attempts to keep its one-way drones in the air.
Russia straps jammers onto its Shaheds
Oleksii Vyskub, Ukraine's first Deputy Defense Minister, said Russia has fitted some Shahed-style drones with electronic-warfare systems. The modified drones carry a frequency suppressor fitted to their rear.
Electronic warfare (EW) encompasses jamming and other interference that disrupts a drone's communications or guidance. These Shaheds "fly in our country and try to suppress our interceptor drones," Vyskub told Business Insider.
Ukraine spotted the jammer-equipped drones during recent attacks, he added. But he would not call the upgrade a "super innovation" for Russia.
A string of fixes that keep falling short
The jammers cap a series of Russian workarounds. Russia tried rear-view cameras last year, letting operators watch for interceptors sneaking up behind the drone. It also strapped air-to-air missiles onto some drones to hunt the helicopters Ukraine uses for air defense.
This week, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported a new jet-powered Shahed, the Geran-4, built to outrun the interceptors. The jet model flies faster and maneuvers harder than the propeller version.
Ukraine's interceptors were built mainly for those slower Shaheds, which top out around 185 km/h. Ukrainian makers say faster interceptors to hunt the jet drones are in the works.
