Ukraine redirects Russian Shahed drones back to sender

A large number of Russian kamikaze drones may have been transferred from Ukraine to Russia and its ally Belarus. Electronic warfare makes this possible.

Thomas Vanhove/t-online

In recent days, Russia has been carrying out increasingly violent air strikes against Ukraine and its civilians. Many areas had to go without power on Thursday, and a medical facility in Kiev was attacked on Friday night.

Apparently, Russia is once again trying to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses with a massive attack. But Kiev has found a way to truly beat Russia at its own game.

How does “deception” work?

The drones sent by Putin's army to Ukraine are controlled by GPS signals. These indicate the coordinates of the target. So far, both Ukrainian and Russian special forces have been able to jam these signals with their own. The drone then lost its way. But now resourceful Ukrainian experts have achieved new heights, as French newspaper Le Monde reports.

Ukrainians use a technique called “spoofing.” “Spoofing” is a method of electronic deception in which an attacker falsifies information or identity in order to deceive another person or system.

In the case of Russian drones, “spoofing” is used to make them believe they have reached their destination. If the original coordinates initially pointed to the city of Kiev, Ukrainian jammers overwrote the GPS data and sent the drone back or to neighboring Belarus.

According to the Belarusian Hajun Project, which collects public information from the country, 43 Russian Shahed drones are said to have crossed the Belarusian border between November 24 and 26. That’s why the Lukashenko regime’s fighter jets took off four times. Other drones were sent back to Russia.

What's the point?

From September to October, the Ukrainian military recorded 3,482 drones being used to attack civilian and military targets in Ukraine. Although most of the drones were intercepted, debris from the downed planes damaged or set fire to dozens of residential buildings. Electronic defenses are also being relied upon as swarms of Russian drones overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses.

But deception techniques also have unwanted side effects. In early November, citizens of Kyiv reported that they could no longer hail a taxi using their mobile phones. The clocks on the mobile phones of many Kiev residents showed the wrong time, and many Ukrainians suddenly regarded Russian cities such as Moscow and Belgorod as filming locations. Others arrive an hour late because their smartphone alarm went off too late.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was subsequently forced to issue a statement stating that due to the use of electronic warfare systems to defend against Russian air strikes, interference with smartphone watches or GPS signals may occur. One remedy for citizens might be to turn off automatic time settings. This is also controlled by GPS satellites.

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(t-online/dsc)

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