According to a report by Le Monde on November 26, Ukraine is employing sophisticated Electronic Warfare (EW) technology to intercept and modify the satellite coordinates of Russian Shahed strike drones, redirecting them back into Russian and Belarusian territories.
In an overnight operation beginning on November 25, Russia conducted its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, deploying 192 aerial targets, including 188 drones. The Ukrainian Air Force reported 76 of the drones were shot down using kinetic means – such as fighter jets, helicopters, mobile anti-aircraft batteries, surface-to-air missiles – and electronic jamming systems.
It has now been reported that on Tuesday an additional 95 Russian drones were diverted from their intended target using a system that spoofs satellite coordinates. By disrupting the radar-navigation systems guiding Russian drones, Ukrainian Forces have manged to divert incoming attack drones into neighbouring country Belarus, a key Russian ally in its offensive against Ukraine.
The Belaruski Gayun monitoring project – an open-source intelligence project tracking and monitoring Russian and Belarusian military activity in the territory of Belarus – reported that on the night of November 25-26 “at least 17” Russian Shahed drones entered Belarusian airspace, redirected from Ukraine. Three more Shahed drones were reported in Belarusian airspace by Belaruski Gayun over the following two nights.
It was reported in September 2024 by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) that Ukrainian EW systems were being used to force incoming Russian drones to change course and crash after running out of fuel, disabling them before they could reach the intended destination. Now, it appears that Ukrainian capabilities have advanced to force incoming attack drones redivert into enemy territory.
Post Image Credit: Belarusian Hajun Project.