Superior Electronic Defence is Making this Drone a Game-Changer

In today's modern military landscape, the ability to conduct successful drone operations over active war zones has become strategically critical. At the heart of this capability lies electronic warfare (EW) - the specialized use of electromagnetic and directed energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum and deny adversaries the ability to effectively detect, track, or engage aerial assets. Without the sophisticated electronic warfare systems to protect drones, uncrewed aerial vehicles become easy targets for enemy air defences and anti-aircraft weaponry. Many simply fall from the sky when their ability to communicate with their operators is lost or intercepted by effective electronic warfare weaponry.

Electronic warfare encompasses a diverse array of technologies and techniques, from advanced radar jamming and GPS spoofing to directed energy countermeasures. In effect, electronic warfare systems create a ‘bubble’ that prevents enemy drones from entering protected spaces, such as around airstrips, fuel depots, or power stations. Only by providing protection against these weapons can drones penetrate denied airspaces, evade detection, and conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.

Recently however, Ukraine has taken a huge step towards winning this electronic battlefield with a drone designed with remarkable resilience against EW systems.

Called V-BATs, the US-made drones are finding phenomenal success by combining long-range flying with the ability to avoid Russian counter-drone defences. Their most practical role to-date has been spotting and gathering information on Russian targets and then communicating it to artillery units.

“They launched from about 40 kilometers from the front,” says Brandon Tseng, president and co-founder of the V-BAT’s manufacturer when describing their first combat mission. “[Then they] flew 100 kilometers past the front line of troops and then found these SA-11 surface-to-air missiles [mounted on] 11 Buks, targeted them, called in HIMARS airburst rounds.”

While Ukraine already possesses a number of drones which have a high success rate against intense electronic warfare defences, these are typically smaller drones on one-way missions. Drones that have been built to fly almost autonomously with a large investment in onboard computers to keep them flying.

What is different about the V-BAT is that it is able to fly far behind enemy lines (up to 300 km) and then remain in the sky long enough to identify targets and relay the information back to Ukrainian commanders.

“They were able to collect intelligence that they had never collected before, because they had a long-endurance aircraft that was able to watch things for long periods of time,” notes Tseng. “That absolutely blew their [the Ukrainian commander’s] minds, because, while they had some aircraft, some weapon systems that could go 60 kilometers, maybe 100 kilometers, the on-station time was … for those aircraft for … 10 or 15 minutes. So, when you're comparing it against us who's loitering around for 8, 9, 10, 11 hours, you know, after we get on-station…you just actually have the time to actually find lots and lots of targets.”

Then by remaining in location despite Russian efforts to destroy the drone with EW techniques, the V-BAT can provide damage assessment data about the target, allowing for a further artillery attack if needed. This is a significant improvement on current artillery spotting methods, with both sides frequently unable to identify how successful their artillery has been.

Significantly, the V-BATs are playing into Ukraine’s strategic plan for artillery. For while the Russians are able to field larger artillery units with more guns and ammunition, the Ukrainian artillery has focused on smaller, more mobile guns – a so-called ‘shoot and scoot’ tactic.

Due to its small size – it can fit inside an SUV – the V-BATs synergise well with the plan and are able to provide more accurate artillery spotting. Additionally, the V-BATs are vertical take-off, and so can launch almost anywhere with less chance of being spotted.

“Airstrips, airfields are targeted,” explains Tseng. “They're observed. They're watched, and so they're just highly vulnerable points. So, if your aircraft requires a runway, it's really not a good, great place to be.”

Such has been the V-BATs success at avoiding Russian EW defences, that the designers are now looking to expand its roles. This includes the test launch of a Northrop Grumman laser-guided munition called the Hatchet.

Without an electronic warfare umbrella, drone forces are grounded or suffer unsustainable losses leaving them unable to fulfil their critical roles in modern, information-age conflicts. With this latest advance in military technology the delicate balance of electronic superiority may have decisively shifted in Ukraine’s favour. And hopefully bringing the war to a successful conclusion.

Photo credit: Getarchive, Nara, Dallasinnovates, & Flickr