Ukrainian electronic warfare diverted 2 Russian ballistic missiles into Dnipro, WSJ reports
Two Russian ballistic missiles heading toward a key government site in Kyiv crashed into the Dnipro River after Ukrainian forces disrupted them with an electronic warfare system earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The missiles were traveling at hypersonic speeds toward the Ukrainian capital when they were intercepted by a radio signal generated by the Lima electronic warfare system, according to the newspaper.
Ukraine’s Night Watch electronic warfare unit says it brought down the missiles using Lima, a system whose installations are deployed across the country to interfere with the navigation and control systems of Russian missiles, guided bombs and drones.
Around the time of the interception, navigation apps on phones in Kyiv began showing users as being in Peru — an effect of the GPS spoofing used by the unit, the WSJ reported.
A Night Watch servicemember with the call sign Alchemist said the system can transmit signals over roughly 193 kilometers (120 miles), disrupting drones, missiles and guided bombs.
The technology can also interfere with Ukrainian drones. However, a Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces officer told the WSJ that electronic warfare suppresses between 70% and 95% of radio-controlled drones in the sector where his team operates.
Electronic warfare has become a central part of the technological contest between Ukraine and Russia, with both sides continuously adapting navigation, communications and jamming systems to counter each other.
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