Cyber Warfare at the Heart of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Signals Confusing Moscow's Missiles

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In the heart of the Russian-Ukrainian war, there is a silent battle that is no less important than the ground and aerial battles, represented by a wide-ranging electronic war targeting communications, navigation signals, drones, and missiles, as the United States, Russia, and China race to develop new capabilities in this field.

Earlier this year, two Russian ballistic missiles traveling at speeds exceeding the speed of sound were directed towards an important government site in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, before they fell into the Dnipro River after being subjected to electronic signals that confused their trajectory.

At almost the same time, navigation applications on the phones of several residents of Kyiv showed that they were located in Peru, which was considered by a specialized Ukrainian electronic warfare unit known as "Night Watch" to be the result of jamming operations carried out using the "Lima" system.

One officer from the unit, known as "The Alchemist," stated that the "Lima" system is capable of broadcasting signals over a distance of about 193 kilometers, allowing for jamming of drones, missiles, and guided bombs. The unit used the system to confuse the ballistic missiles by broadcasting false navigation signals, in a technique known as "electronic deception" or Spoofing, which led to their trajectory being altered and their falling into the river.

In November of last year, "Night Watch" also announced the interception of a Russian hypersonic missile of the "Kinzhal" type, which Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously described as an unstoppable weapon. According to unit officers, the "Lima" system broadcast a false navigational signal towards the missile, causing it to change its course and disintegrate under the immense speed at which it was moving.

Ukraine does not disclose the percentage of missiles and drones that are shot down due to electronic warfare compared to those that fail for other technical reasons, and distinguishing between the two cases can be difficult. Electronic jamming can also inadvertently cause a target to change its course, while Ukrainian officers acknowledge that some jamming operations may sometimes affect Ukrainian drones themselves.

However, an official in the Ukrainian unmanned systems forces states that electronic warfare successfully disrupts between 70 percent and 95 percent of radio-controlled drones in the sector where his unit operates.

The Ukrainian company "Phantom Defense" claims to have detected over 11,500 Russian drones over the course of a year, managing to neutralize about 7,500 of them, noting that it confirmed the results by intercepting the video signals emitted by those drones.

The scale of Ukrainian demand reflects a growing reliance on these technologies, as the Ukrainian company "December 1" has begun selling thousands of systems designed for frontline and long-range use monthly, compared to only dozens of units in 2024. Colonel Matt Sherburn, an official in the U.S. Army responsible for developing electronic warfare capabilities, stated that the world has entered "a new era of spectrum warfare."

Although electronic warfare is not new, it had fallen down the list of priorities for Western countries after the end of the Cold War, before the Russian war on Ukraine brought this field back to the forefront, especially with the transformation of drones into a primary weapon in battles.

Electronic warfare primarily relies on detecting or disrupting the frequencies used by the adversary, or protecting friendly signals from jamming. This can be achieved by broadcasting strong signals to overwhelm or confuse the adversary's communications or replace them with misleading signals.

The Ukrainian experience has prompted the United States to reassess its capabilities. American officials stated that the war in Ukraine has served as a "wake-up call" for the Pentagon, which has made electronic warfare one of its defense spending priorities to counter drones and missiles. China is also working to expand its capabilities in this field, while the "spectrum war" has become one of the important areas for Western defense industry companies, which are developing drones capable of detecting electronic emissions, radar jamming systems, and electronic deception means for missiles and torpedoes.

In contrast, means to overcome jamming are evolving, including laser communications between ships, drones connected to their operators via fiber optic cables, in addition to AI-supported drones that can identify and attack targets without the need for continuous connection to a pilot.

However, these technologies are not without limitations; lasers work over limited distances and are affected by weather, while drones connected by fiber optics are slower and less maneuverable, and AI still requires further development before drones can reliably operate over long distances without human intervention.