Russia and Ukraine have devised updated systems to counter one other’s advantages in attack/kamikaze drones and electronic warfare (EW) in a constantly changing techno-tactical rivalry.
Moscow claims to have produced an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is impervious to all forms of EW jamming, despite the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) currently possess drones with AI to defeat Russia’s superior EW systems.
The 26-month conflict has been defined by drones: low-cost, mass-produced, commercially available remotely piloted aircraft have been modified for military usage, including basic aerial surveillance, reconnaissance, artillery fire correction, and attack missions through the attachment of explosives.
Due to the devastation of its own Soviet-era artillery and military industries, as well as the scarcity of Western howitzers and artillery rounds provided from their own stockpiles, Ukraine has been forced to almost entirely rely on substitute artillery.
Russia, however, has been judged to have a lead in EW since the beginning of the war, as Western experts have repeatedly acknowledged.
Ukraine, on its part, has pioneered repurposing civilian drones for battlefield use, has a larger inventory with Western funding, and developed tactics that have shaped Russia’s own drone warfare and manufacturing strategy.
Do Ukrainian Drones Now Think for Themselves?
As to TASS, Ekaterina Chernogorenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, stated that the military is planning to equip its drones with artificial intelligence (AI) “due to widespread use of electronic warfare (EW) by the Russian army.”
According to her, “the last kilometer to the target is the biggest problem (for UAVs), given that (military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces) have more and more individual electronic warfare equipment.”
It is claimed that the AI technology will be able to guide the gadget to the intended target even in cases where its control channel is disabled.
According to the definition, drone technology is autonomous and requires little to no human intervention. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) uses waypoints to direct itself, detects and attacks targets. Their system is provided data about the target, geography, and location. It is probable that the drone is equipped with an Inertial Navigation System (INS).
Either extremely complex algorithms that enable the drone to operate autonomously in some challenging tactical settings or artificial intelligence (AI) that grants it decision-making capabilities are used to do this.
In either case, EW systems are unable to identify drones or detect anything to “jam” or “spoof” due to the lack of a radio-control link between the ground operator and the aircraft or satellite navigation signals. To cause the drone to divert out of the way, EW seeks to chop, sever, or disrupt these linkages.
According to a recent Time magazine article, Western tech giants have turned Ukraine into their “AI war lab,” where they test and refine different technologies. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, has spearheaded these initiatives, which include financing international and crowdsourcing campaigns to purchase hundreds of thousands of civilian drones for use in combat. The most modern technology was probably created in conjunction with Western scientists.
This is comparable to Russia’s Lancet kamikaze drones, which were discovered to be capable of independently identifying Western artillery systems and initiating their attacks in October of last year.
According to assessments, this is a type of image recognition technology in which forms are recognized and categorized in relation to pre-loaded images stored in the internal databank of the system.
Russia’s EW System with Varying Frequencies
Meanwhile, Russia has stepped up its anti-EW activities, most likely in response to the flow of Western technology supporting Ukraine.
Developers of the Piranha UAV, Simbirsk Design Bureau, reportedly developed a “multi-band communication system that cannot be jammed by electronic warfare (EW), since it allows (changing) not only frequencies but frequency ranges,” according to TASS authorities.
According to the official, it can immediately transition between “three frequency ranges while in flight, depending on the needs of the UAV operator.” “Our device’s flight cannot be impeded by electronic warfare.” The operator adjusts the signal’s frequency or quickly modifies its range (while still completing the mission) when the enemy jams the signal.
Additionally, the development was done at non-standard frequencies, providing an even bigger edge over the opposition.
According to the description, there may be technological solutions for the technology, but they would take a lot of effort and time. Analyzing several frequencies, spectrums, and potential patterns in Piranha operations might take days. By then, Russian forces will have secured steady tactical gains that are difficult to undo.