Russian electronic warfare ‘created fake missiles’ to trick Ukraine’s air defense

Ukrainian media reported on January 3 that the country’s air defense detected “many unidentified targets moving at a speed of 7,500-8,000 km/h in the west of the country”, before they disappeared from the radar screen. This leads to speculation about the type of weapon used by Russia, because the above target flies faster than Iskander-M ballistic missiles and slower than Kinzhal hypersonic bullets.

However, sheets Focus of Ukraine later said this was the result of electronic warfare operations deployed by Russia in parallel with the launch of the Iskander-M ballistic missile aimed at Chernihiv province, in the north of the country.

The Russian and Ukrainian armies have not commented on the above information.

The Ukrainian Air Force Command on the same day announced that Russia had launched three Iskander-M ballistic missiles into Chernihiv province, fired three Kh-59/69 tactical cruise missiles towards Dnipro province and 32 drones. (UAV) Geran series and decoy aircraft. Russian forces also used 5 converted S-300 air defense missiles to attack Ukrainian positions in Kursk province.

“Air defense units shot down 3 Kh-59/69 missiles and 13 suicide UAVs, while 19 decoy aircraft lost track and caused no damage,” the agency said, but did not mention number of Iskander-M and S-300 missiles.

Chernihiv province officials said three Russian missiles hit a residential area near the capital city of the same name, killing one person and injuring five. In Kiev province, 5 people were also injured in the Russian UAV raid.

Ukrainian air force officials said last year that Russian electronic warfare forces had applied many measures to make it difficult for Ukrainian air defenses, including emitting a series of electromagnetic pulses to make radar identify them as Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

“They regularly monitor the reactions of defense forces to find ways to distract them. Superior technology helps the enemy gain an advantage,” said Colonel Yuri Ignat, communications officer of the Ukrainian air force, when there.

The British Ministry of Defense said last week that Russia had changed its tactics, choosing to prolong the time between large-scale coordinated raids to accumulate weapons, thereby carrying out larger and more intense campaigns. , instead of frequent, smaller-scale attacks like before.

However, they note that Moscow still maintains its stockpile and the ability to deploy weapons to conduct smaller-scale raids, surprising Kiev.

In addition to changing the scale and frequency of raids, Russia also applies the tactic of deploying many types of decoys to drain enemy anti-aircraft bullets and open the way for missile strikes.