The electromagnetic spectrum has become a major battlefield in the Russian-Ukrainian war, with both sides competing to disrupt their adversary’s communications and navigation systems, conceal their own signals and protect their guided weapons. As the use of drones and missiles has expanded, electronic jamming and deception have become influential factors in the course of battles, alongside the use of artificial intelligence to overcome disruption measures and develop countermeasures.
Night Watch unit disrupts drones and missiles
A report by the Wall Street Journal examines the experience of Ukraine’s Night Watch unit, which uses the Lima system to broadcast signals with a range of 120 miles to disrupt drones, missiles and guided bombs.
The unit says it misled two Russian ballistic missiles by sending false navigation data that caused them to change course and fall into the Dnieper River. It also says it intercepted a hypersonic Kinzhal missile after broadcasting a deceptive navigation signal to it.
The use of jamming also carries risks, however, as weapons deviating from their targets could be directed towards civilian areas and may also affect Ukrainian aircraft operations. Despite these risks, Ukrainian military personnel insist that electronic warfare measures are effective. An officer in the Unmanned Systems Forces said jamming could disrupt between 70 and 95 per cent of the drones detected in his area of operations.
Phantom Defence detects and neutralises drones
The confrontation is not limited to broadcasting jamming signals; it also extends to detecting electronic emissions, intercepting signals and deceiving radars, as well as developing algorithms capable of evading disruption systems. Ukrainian company Phantom Defence says it has detected more than 11,500 Russian drones and managed to neutralise about 7,500 of them.
In a sign of rising demand for these technologies, another Ukrainian company saw its sales increase from dozens of systems in 2024 to thousands of units a month. Ukrainian units are also working to produce lower-cost systems that can be deployed to disrupt the frequencies used by Russian drones, in a combat environment where identifying the correct frequency can become a matter of life or death. The confrontation shows how quickly both sides are adapting.
Russia develops antennas to circumvent jamming
Night Watch discovered that Russian aircraft and missiles were using Chinese antennas capable of identifying the source of jamming and circumventing it. After three months of continuous work, the unit developed the Lima Quant system to counter the technology, but Russia increased the number of antennas in use from four to 32, triggering a new round of the electronic race.
Experts believe these systems could disrupt ballistic attacks at a cost far lower than that of interceptor missiles, but they cannot fully replace air-defence systems such as Patriot.
Is the war in Ukraine restoring electronic warfare as a Western and Moscow priority?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought electronic warfare back into the focus of Western attention after its priority declined following the Cold War, when the United States faced adversaries in Iraq and Afghanistan that were less capable of waging this type of confrontation.
US officials say the war in Ukraine has served as a wake-up call, while the US War Department has increased its investment in electronic warfare capabilities. The race has also expanded into jamming-resistant technologies, including laser communications, drones connected by fibre-optic cables and aircraft capable of identifying targets using artificial intelligence.
Each measure has weaknesses, however: laser communications are affected by distance and weather, cable-connected drones are slower and less manoeuvrable, while artificial intelligence remains not entirely reliable for long-distance autonomous navigation.
The conflict is expanding as new technologies enter the land, maritime and air battlefields. According to US Colonel Josh Koslow, control of the electromagnetic spectrum has become an essential part of military superiority, warning that the side that fails to prevail in this spectrum “will lose the war”.
