Latest news with #Zhluktenko
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine's electronic warfare fight against Russian drones is so chaotic that its own are getting caught in the crossfire
Russia and Ukraine are desperately trying to stop each others' drones using electronic warfare. Soldiers sometimes accidentally jam their own sides' drones if they're on the same frequency. There are so many drones that soldiers can be confused about which side they belong to. With too many drones in the air and only so many radio frequencies, Ukrainian soldiers sometimes accidentally jam their own drones trying to stop Russian ones, Business Insider learned. Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces who has operated strike and reconnaissance drones, told Business Insider that his unit was recently the victim of friendly electronic warfare, or just EW. He said it's something that often happens with the big reconnaissance drones that both sides use because many of Ukraine's drones "use the same frequencies that enemy drones use." That's been the case, for instance, with Russia's Zala recon and strike drones and Ukraine's Shark reconnaissance drones. "When friendly EW tries to jam Zala, it also jams Shark," he said. Ukraine uses the Shark to identify targets that other Ukrainian weaponry can then destroy, including Russian artillery convoys, and Russia uses its Zala to identify Ukrainian targets and attack Ukrainian assets like tanks and artillery. The Shark drone is developed by Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems, and its newest version has a range of 260 miles, while the Zala is made by Russia's Zala Aero. The huge volume of drones used in Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an electronic warfare battle, with jamming and more flooding frequencies with noise, cutting connections, and confusing enemy drones, frustrating operators attempting to use them for strikes and surveillance. It's fueled new developments in EW, as well as efforts to get around electronic warfare, such as fiber-optic drones and AI-enabled systems. Zhluktenko said there are so many drones in the sky that Ukrainian soldiers have to try to coordinate when they fly drones, to try to avoid the accidental jamming of their own side's drones. In a single one-mile stretch of the front line, there might be more than 60 drones in the sky, he said. In his area, a roughly three-mile section, there might be around three large Russian reconnaissance drones in flight at any given time. There's a lot of other stuff in the air though, and that can make it hard to tell what belongs to which side. Zhluktenko previously told BI that it can be so difficult to tell the drones apart that infantry soldiers sometimes panic and jam everything with their electronic warfare systems. He said: "They literally click all of the frequencies to be jammed because they're scared." Another Ukrainian drone operator, who previously spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, said the confusion sometimes causes soldiers to try to shoot down every drone they see. As Western militaries look to adopt small drones in new ways, concerns about battlefield confusion are a priority. Combat footage from Ukraine has shown troops frantically questioning if the drone buzzing overhead is on their side. With some dropping grenades or screaming out of the sky and exploding, soldiers may have only moments to sort that out. Drone usage is higher in this war than in any other conflict in history. Among these systems are the more traditional large reconnaissance drones, emerging small strike drones, and drones with weaponry like firearms and grenades. These weapons are designed to attack and gather information on the enemy and guide other weapons and combat forces. The prolific employment of drone technology has sparked an innovation race between Russia and Ukraine to create new types of drones and drone technologies. On both sides, domestic innovation and defense engineering are fueling developments, as is support from foreign partner nations. Ukraine is relying on drones as it faces Russia's far-larger military and deals with shortages in Western-provided weaponry. Drones are something that Ukraine can make itself in large quantities, with efforts ranging from huge companies to small outfits in people's garages. It's a key part of Ukraine's growing domestic defense industry, which also includes homegrown missiles, air defense systems, and ground robots. Ukraine said it made 2.2 million drones last year, and it aims to make four million this year. But Russia also sees value in drones and is investing heavily in boosting output. It uses them at the front lines, as well as to complicate its strike packages when targeting Ukrainian cities, mixing one-way attack drones with missiles. The huge volume of drones has led to some irregularities in battle, such as panic jamming. It's also resulted in drone operators sometimes accidentally being able to see each other's drone feeds, allowing them to unintentionally pick up intelligence about what enemy drones are doing and collecting. There are just so many drones and only so many operating frequencies that drone feeds can get switched without them doing anything. Ukrainian and Russian troops are working through these issues in real time, and lessons learned from the fight may shape future wars. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine's electronic warfare fight against Russian drones is so chaotic that its own are getting caught in the crossfire
Russia and Ukraine are desperately trying to stop each others' drones using electronic warfare. Soldiers sometimes accidentally jam their own sides' drones if they're on the same frequency. There are so many drones that soldiers can be confused about which side they belong to. With too many drones in the air and only so many radio frequencies, Ukrainian soldiers sometimes accidentally jam their own drones trying to stop Russian ones, Business Insider learned. Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces who has operated strike and reconnaissance drones, told Business Insider that his unit was recently the victim of friendly electronic warfare, or just EW. He said it's something that often happens with the big reconnaissance drones that both sides use because many of Ukraine's drones "use the same frequencies that enemy drones use." That's been the case, for instance, with Russia's Zala recon and strike drones and Ukraine's Shark reconnaissance drones. "When friendly EW tries to jam Zala, it also jams Shark," he said. Ukraine uses the Shark to identify targets that other Ukrainian weaponry can then destroy, including Russian artillery convoys, and Russia uses its Zala to identify Ukrainian targets and attack Ukrainian assets like tanks and artillery. The Shark drone is developed by Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems, and its newest version has a range of 260 miles, while the Zala is made by Russia's Zala Aero. The huge volume of drones used in Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an electronic warfare battle, with jamming and more flooding frequencies with noise, cutting connections, and confusing enemy drones, frustrating operators attempting to use them for strikes and surveillance. It's fueled new developments in EW, as well as efforts to get around electronic warfare, such as fiber-optic drones and AI-enabled systems. Zhluktenko said there are so many drones in the sky that Ukrainian soldiers have to try to coordinate when they fly drones, to try to avoid the accidental jamming of their own side's drones. In a single one-mile stretch of the front line, there might be more than 60 drones in the sky, he said. In his area, a roughly three-mile section, there might be around three large Russian reconnaissance drones in flight at any given time. There's a lot of other stuff in the air though, and that can make it hard to tell what belongs to which side. Zhluktenko previously told BI that it can be so difficult to tell the drones apart that infantry soldiers sometimes panic and jam everything with their electronic warfare systems. He said: "They literally click all of the frequencies to be jammed because they're scared." Another Ukrainian drone operator, who previously spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, said the confusion sometimes causes soldiers to try to shoot down every drone they see. As Western militaries look to adopt small drones in new ways, concerns about battlefield confusion are a priority. Combat footage from Ukraine has shown troops frantically questioning if the drone buzzing overhead is on their side. With some dropping grenades or screaming out of the sky and exploding, soldiers may have only moments to sort that out. Drone usage is higher in this war than in any other conflict in history. Among these systems are the more traditional large reconnaissance drones, emerging small strike drones, and drones with weaponry like firearms and grenades. These weapons are designed to attack and gather information on the enemy and guide other weapons and combat forces. The prolific employment of drone technology has sparked an innovation race between Russia and Ukraine to create new types of drones and drone technologies. On both sides, domestic innovation and defense engineering are fueling developments, as is support from foreign partner nations. Ukraine is relying on drones as it faces Russia's far-larger military and deals with shortages in Western-provided weaponry. Drones are something that Ukraine can make itself in large quantities, with efforts ranging from huge companies to small outfits in people's garages. It's a key part of Ukraine's growing domestic defense industry, which also includes homegrown missiles, air defense systems, and ground robots. Ukraine said it made 2.2 million drones last year, and it aims to make four million this year. But Russia also sees value in drones and is investing heavily in boosting output. It uses them at the front lines, as well as to complicate its strike packages when targeting Ukrainian cities, mixing one-way attack drones with missiles. The huge volume of drones has led to some irregularities in battle, such as panic jamming. It's also resulted in drone operators sometimes accidentally being able to see each other's drone feeds, allowing them to unintentionally pick up intelligence about what enemy drones are doing and collecting. There are just so many drones and only so many operating frequencies that drone feeds can get switched without them doing anything. Ukrainian and Russian troops are working through these issues in real time, and lessons learned from the fight may shape future wars. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Business Insider
Ukraine's electronic warfare fight against Russian drones is so chaotic that its own are getting caught in the crossfire
With too many drones in the air and only so many radio frequencies, Ukrainian soldiers sometimes accidentally jam their own drones trying to stop Russian ones, Business Insider learned. Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces who has operated strike and reconnaissance drones, told Business Insider that his unit was recently the victim of friendly electronic warfare, or just EW. He said it's something that often happens with the big reconnaissance drones that both sides use because many of Ukraine's drones "use the same frequencies that enemy drones use." That's been the case, for instance, with Russia's Zala recon and strike drones and Ukraine's Shark reconnaissance drones. "When friendly EW tries to jam Zala, it also jams Shark," he said. Ukraine uses the Shark to identify targets that other Ukrainian weaponry can then destroy, including Russian artillery convoys, and Russia uses its Zala to identify Ukrainian targets and attack Ukrainian assets like tanks and artillery. The Shark drone is developed by Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems, and its newest version has a range of 260 miles, while the Zala is made by Russia's Zala Aero. The huge volume of drones used in Russia's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in an electronic warfare battle, with jamming and more flooding frequencies with noise, cutting connections, and confusing enemy drones, frustrating operators attempting to use them for strikes and surveillance. It's fueled new developments in EW, as well as efforts to get around electronic warfare, such as fiber-optic drones and AI-enabled systems. Zhluktenko said there are so many drones in the sky that Ukrainian soldiers have to try to coordinate when they fly drones, to try to avoid the accidental jamming of their own side's drones. In a single one-mile stretch of the front line, there might be more than 60 drones in the sky, he said. In his area, a roughly three-mile section, there might be around three large Russian reconnaissance drones in flight at any given time. There's a lot of other stuff in the air though, and that can make it hard to tell what belongs to which side. Zhluktenko previously told BI that it can be so difficult to tell the drones apart that infantry soldiers sometimes panic and jam everything with their electronic warfare systems. He said: "They literally click all of the frequencies to be jammed because they're scared." Another Ukrainian drone operator, who previously spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, said the confusion sometimes causes soldiers to try to shoot down every drone they see. As Western militaries look to adopt small drones in new ways, concerns about battlefield confusion are a priority. Combat footage from Ukraine has shown troops frantically questioning if the drone buzzing overhead is on their side. With some dropping grenades or screaming out of the sky and exploding, soldiers may have only moments to sort that out. Drone usage is higher in this war than in any other conflict in history. Among these systems are the more traditional large reconnaissance drones, emerging small strike drones, and drones with weaponry like firearms and grenades. These weapons are designed to attack and gather information on the enemy and guide other weapons and combat forces. The prolific employment of drone technology has sparked an innovation race between Russia and Ukraine to create new types of drones and drone technologies. On both sides, domestic innovation and defense engineering are fueling developments, as is support from foreign partner nations. Ukraine is relying on drones as it faces Russia's far-larger military and deals with shortages in Western-provided weaponry. Drones are something that Ukraine can make itself in large quantities, with efforts ranging from huge companies to small outfits in people's garages. It's a key part of Ukraine's growing domestic defense industry, which also includes homegrown missiles, air defense systems, and ground robots. Ukraine said it made 2.2 million drones last year, and it aims to make four million this year. But Russia also sees value in drones and is investing heavily in boosting output. It uses them at the front lines, as well as to complicate its strike packages when targeting Ukrainian cities, mixing one-way attack drones with missiles. The huge volume of drones has led to some irregularities in battle, such as panic jamming. It's also resulted in drone operators sometimes accidentally being able to see each other's drone feeds, allowing them to unintentionally pick up intelligence about what enemy drones are doing and collecting. There are just so many drones and only so many operating frequencies that drone feeds can get switched without them doing anything. Ukrainian and Russian troops are working through these issues in real time, and lessons learned from the fight may shape future wars.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Ukrainian drone pilots often use 'weird-looking buildings' as guides to fly their drones through heavy Russian GPS jamming
Jamming in Ukraine means that drone operators often can't rely on GPS. Operators told BI that means they don't always know where their drones are. They have to look for standout landmarks instead, something that's hard in the uniform landscape. Ukrainian drone operators flying their uncrewed aircraft against the threat of Russian jamming are often unsure where their drones actually are, meaning they have to use other guideposts to find their way, an operator told Business Insider. Directional landmarks can include "weird-looking buildings" or intersections. Operators use these when they can't use GPS to locate themselves and can't be sure exactly where their drones are over fields and treelines that look similar, Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, told BI. Drones warfare is a major part of Russia's war against Ukraine, and both sides are rapidly creating and developing new types of drones and counter-drone technology. The countermeasures include electronic warfare like jamming, which can target connections between the drone and its operator or the aircraft's GPS navigation system. GPS, a satellite-based navigation system, is used in munitions, drones, and civilian technology like digital maps. It plays an essential function in military systems and civilian society, but military leaders are increasingly coming to terms with the reality that modern battlefields may be GPS-denied environments. Weapons that rely on GPS, including sophisticated US weapons, have run into problems on Ukrainian battlefields. "At the front line, there is literally no GPS," Zhluktenko said. "So a key issue is that when you're flying with no GPS, the drone thinks that he's in one position while, in fact, he's in completely another position." Electronic warfare can make location data unreliable, and wind and other factors can knock a drone off course, out of sync with the operator's expectations. Without GPS, operators have to look at what their drone's camera is showing them and compare it to satellite imagery and maps to figure out where it is. "And that's why you have to look at the visual markers that you have from the camera: a lake, some weird-looking building, weird intersection, and you just discuss all those markers and use them to navigate through the front line basically." "The operator, he's looking at the camera, looking at the map, and figuring out where the drone is and where to go next," he said. That's not an easy task, and in some sectors of the front, this can be extremely difficult. Eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is taking place, is very flat and has a largely uniform landscape, making it hard for operators to find those standout features and learn where they are. Zhluktenko said that in the east of the country, "one of the key issues is that all of those places, they look exactly the same. It's the same kind of field, the same kind of forest, and there are literally no visual markers to figure out where you're at." The flat landscape has also made other parts of warfare more difficult, like tank and armored assaults. Drones can see them coming from far off. Another Ukrainian drone operator, who spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, shared similar experiences, explaining that without GPS, drone operators "have to get oriented using benchmarks." They said that those can include "a building or a lake or a river or some house." Drones have been used in this war more than in any other war throughout history. From quadcopters to octocopters to large fixed-wing aircraft, drones are running reconnaissance operations, collecting targeting data, dropping bombs, and exploding on targets, and that's just the aerial ones. These relatively cheap weapons have eliminated assets worth millions of dollars and destroyed targets far from the front. They're radically changing warfare. And they have been key for Ukraine, which has suffered from shortages of other weaponry. Maj. Gen. Peter Boysen, the commander in chief in Denmark, a significant Ukrainian partner, said this month that attack drones account for more than 70% of Ukrainian kills. The proliferation of drones means that Russian and Ukrainian industries are in a race to find ways to jam and stop the other country's drones. They are also developing new drones that are resistant to or able to overcome those efforts. New drone systems include fiber-optic drones, which have a cable between the operator and the drone that prevents them from being jammed, and AI-enabled drones. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Business Insider
Ukrainian drone pilots often use 'weird-looking buildings' as guides to fly their drones through heavy Russian GPS jamming
Ukrainian drone operators flying their uncrewed aircraft against the threat of Russian jamming are often unsure where their drones actually are, meaning they have to use other guideposts to find their way, an operator told Business Insider. Directional landmarks can include "weird-looking buildings" or intersections. Operators use these when they can't use GPS to locate themselves and can't be sure exactly where their drones are over fields and treelines that look similar, Dimko Zhluktenko, a drone operator with Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, told BI. Drones warfare is a major part of Russia's war against Ukraine, and both sides are rapidly creating and developing new types of drones and counter-drone technology. The countermeasures include electronic warfare like jamming, which can target connections between the drone and its operator or the aircraft's GPS navigation system. GPS, a satellite-based navigation system, is used in munitions, drones, and civilian technology like digital maps. It plays an essential function in military systems and civilian society, but military leaders are increasingly coming to terms with the reality that modern battlefields may be GPS-denied environments. Weapons that rely on GPS, including sophisticated US weapons, have run into problems on Ukrainian battlefields. "At the front line, there is literally no GPS," Zhluktenko said. "So a key issue is that when you're flying with no GPS, the drone thinks that he's in one position while, in fact, he's in completely another position." Electronic warfare can make location data unreliable, and wind and other factors can knock a drone off course, out of sync with the operator's expectations. Without GPS, operators have to look at what their drone's camera is showing them and compare it to satellite imagery and maps to figure out where it is. "And that's why you have to look at the visual markers that you have from the camera: a lake, some weird-looking building, weird intersection, and you just discuss all those markers and use them to navigate through the front line basically." "The operator, he's looking at the camera, looking at the map, and figuring out where the drone is and where to go next," he said. That's not an easy task, and in some sectors of the front, this can be extremely difficult. Eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is taking place, is very flat and has a largely uniform landscape, making it hard for operators to find those standout features and learn where they are. Zhluktenko said that in the east of the country, "one of the key issues is that all of those places, they look exactly the same. It's the same kind of field, the same kind of forest, and there are literally no visual markers to figure out where you're at." The flat landscape has also made other parts of warfare more difficult, like tank and armored assaults. Drones can see them coming from far off. Another Ukrainian drone operator, who spoke to BI on the condition of anonymity, shared similar experiences, explaining that without GPS, drone operators "have to get oriented using benchmarks." They said that those can include "a building or a lake or a river or some house." Drones have been used in this war more than in any other war throughout history. From quadcopters to octocopters to large fixed-wing aircraft, drones are running reconnaissance operations, collecting targeting data, dropping bombs, and exploding on targets, and that's just the aerial ones. These relatively cheap weapons have eliminated assets worth millions of dollars and destroyed targets far from the front. They're radically changing warfare. And they have been key for Ukraine, which has suffered from shortages of other weaponry. Maj. Gen. Peter Boysen, the commander in chief in Denmark, a significant Ukrainian partner, said this month that attack drones account for more than 70% of Ukrainian kills. The proliferation of drones means that Russian and Ukrainian industries are in a race to find ways to jam and stop the other country's drones. They are also developing new drones that are resistant to or able to overcome those efforts. New drone systems include fiber-optic drones, which have a cable between the operator and the drone that prevents them from being jammed, and AI-enabled drones.
