Chinese researchers seek electronic warfare lessons from Ukraine jamming

The Star

3 days ago

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 satellite navigation signals were one of its first targets.
The jamming started with civilian navigation systems, but within less than two weeks, military bands had been targeted as well. All satellite navigation systems in the war zone, including the US GPS system, the European Union's Galileo, China's Beidou and even Russia's own Glonass, fell victim.
Western powers, led by the United States, immediately launched a counter-jamming mission to stall Russia's attempts, according to a paper by Chinese scientists.
While this did not receive a great amount of coverage at the time, some analysts have described it as the first major bout of electronic warfare between major military powers.
It also presented a golden opportunity for Chinese observers, particularly given that Beidou was among the systems affected.
Electronic warfare has emerged increasingly as a decisive factor in modern military conflicts, as demonstrated in the latest air battle between India and Pakistan, where China's relatively untested J-10 downed at least one French Rafale fighter jet. The electronic guidance system, powered by Beidou, was believed to be the key, according to some Chinese defence technology analysts.
Even though Beijing has not been directly involved in the Ukraine war, a study of Russia's electronic warfare tactics and subsequent American countermeasures offers 'crucial implications for addressing challenges in future wars', according to Chinese researchers who closely studied the case.
When the war first started, only civilian satellite guidance systems were jammed, but as the Russian invasion ran into stiff resistance, the jamming grew stronger, wrote Xu Ying, a professor of Geodesy and Geomatics at the Shandong University of Science and Technology.
In the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, for instance, Russian jamming between February 24 and March 2 was only detected on civilian frequency bands from the four main global satellite navigation systems – BeiDou, GPS, Galileo and Glonass system, Xu and her team of researchers found.
But after March 2, Russia expanded the coverage to all frequencies.
'Early-stage jamming featured precise, short bursts against civilian GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite System] signals,' wrote Xu's team, which also included researchers from the People's Liberation Army Space Engineering University and the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology, as well as Xu's university.
'Later stages shifted to full-spectrum, short-duration attacks across all four systems, occasionally escalating into intense, sustained interference.'
However, European and American signals suffered twice as much interference as BeiDou, according to the study, which was published last month in the Journal of Projectiles, Rockets, Missiles and Guidance.
BeiDou is the world's largest navigation network and has both civilian and military bands. The latter, known as B3 was jammed after March 2, 2022, according to the researchers.
Why Russia jammed that frequency remains unclear. The South China Morning Post has reached out to the defence ministries of both Russia and China for comment.
It was not clear whether Ukraine's military had been using the BeiDou service or if it had access to its military-grade system.
Despite its close ties to Moscow, China has said it is neutral in the conflict and insists it is not arming either side.
No Chinese weapons have been found in the war zone, although both sides use China-made civilian drones or components, and Beijing has imposed export restrictions on dual-use technologies.
The study did not say if or how the BeiDou system had countered the Russian jamming. But it detailed American tactics, saying that when US military bands were hit, GPS satellites boosted power over the war zone allowing Ukrainian missiles to bypass Russian jamming.
Data used in their analysis came from International GNSS Service stations in Ukraine and Russia.
Jamming activities also followed the progress of the war closely. In Kyiv, there was heavy early jamming that spiked when Russian troops withdrew on March 25.
Then it spiked again as high-ranking US officials visited Ukraine in late April and more aid for electronic defences arrived.
However, the study also said Russian forces had jammed more than their Ukrainian counterparts, adding: 'Ukraine lacked air power, lacked precision strikes. It had less need for jamming.'
The paper added that 'power boosts matched US military moves' as GPS signals over the war zone strengthened.
It said the jamming had not broken any BeiDou satellites and that all four systems had continued to work for users outside Ukraine. – South China Morning Post