Ukraine is expanding its use of electronic warfare against Russian missiles and drones, using a system called Lima to transmit false navigation signals and disrupt the flight paths of incoming weapons, as the United States, Russia and China compete to develop their capabilities in what has become known as spectrum warfare.
Two Russian missiles fell after their flight paths were misled
Earlier this year, two Russian ballistic missiles travelled at hypersonic speed towards an important government site in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, but fell into the Dnipro River after electronic signals disrupted their trajectories, according to an account by a Ukrainian electronic warfare unit known as Night Watch.
The incident roughly coincided with incorrect locations appearing on navigation apps on the phones of several Kyiv residents, with the apps showing that they were in Peru. The Ukrainian unit said this was one of the effects of jamming operations it carried out using the Lima system while responding to the attack.
An officer in the unit known as Alchemist said Lima can transmit signals over a distance of about 193 kilometres, enabling it to jam drones, missiles and guided bombs. According to the unit's account, the system was used against the two ballistic missiles by sending false navigation data that altered their trajectories and caused them to fall into the river.
Electronic deception replaces navigation signals
The technique is known as electronic deception, or spoofing, and involves replacing the misleading signal that a weapon relies on to determine its location or destination, rather than simply flooding the connection with powerful signals that disable its operation. Last November, Night Watch said it had intercepted a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously described as a weapon that could not be stopped.
Unit officers said Lima directed a false navigation signal towards the missile, causing it to change course before breaking apart under the effect of the enormous speed at which it was travelling. Ukraine does not publish the proportion of missiles and drones that fall as a result of electronic warfare operations compared with weapons that fail because of other technical faults.
In some cases, it is also difficult to distinguish between the two causes, and jamming can unintentionally divert a target from its course. Ukrainian officers also acknowledge that some jamming operations can occasionally affect Ukrainian drones themselves.
Ukraine measures the impact of jamming on drones
The company added that it had verified the results by intercepting the video signals transmitted by those drones. Ukraine's growing reliance on these capabilities is evident in rising demand for systems used on the front lines and over long ranges. Ukrainian company December 1 now sells thousands of systems a month, after selling only dozens of units during 2024.
Ukraine war brings spectrum warfare back to Washington's defence priorities
Lieutenant Colonel Matt Sherburn, the US Army official responsible for developing electronic warfare capabilities, described the current phase as a “new era of spectrum warfare”. The description points to the expanding struggle to detect and disrupt an adversary's frequencies, while protecting friendly signals from jamming or deception.
Electronic warfare is not a new military field, but it fell down the list of Western countries' priorities after the end of the Cold War. Russia's war against Ukraine has brought these capabilities back into focus, particularly as drones have become a main weapon in combat operations.
Electronic warfare tools rely primarily on monitoring the frequencies used by the opposing side and then disrupting them or replacing them with misleading signals. This can be done by transmitting extremely powerful signals to overwhelm the adversary's communications or confuse the data it receives, alongside developing ways to protect friendly forces' communications and navigation. The Ukrainian experience has prompted the United States to reassess its readiness in this field.
US officials described the war in Ukraine as a “wake-up call” for the US Department of Defence, which has made electronic warfare a defence spending priority in response to missile and drone threats.
At the same time, China is expanding its capabilities in the same field, while spectrum warfare has become an important sector for Western defence companies. Projects being developed by those companies include drones capable of detecting electronic emissions, systems able to deceive radars, and electronic deception tools designed to counter missiles and torpedoes.
On the other side, technologies are being developed to help overcome jamming, including laser communications between ships and drones connected to their operators by fibre-optic cables. This also includes artificial intelligence-powered drones designed to identify and attack targets without requiring continuous contact with a pilot.
But the proposed alternatives also face operational limitations. Laser communications work over limited distances and are affected by weather conditions, while drones connected by fibre-optic cables are slower and less manoeuvrable. Artificial intelligence still requires further development before drones can reliably travel over long distances without human intervention.
