In Crimea, the winter storm washed away the barriers in the water, which opened a window of opportunity for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These barriers were meant to stop Ukrainian surface drones from attacking the most important harbours and ships in them. However, these attacks would be difficult to plan, because Russian electronic warfare systems manage to blind satellites, as some sources claim.
Ukrainian tank in training with laser tag equipment. Image credit: Armyinform.com.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
The Russians are trying to protect their ships and infrastructure in the occupied Crimea with a record number of electronic warfare systems.
The editor-in-chief of Defense Express, military expert Oleg Katkov says that those electronic warfare systems blind satellites, which makes it tricky for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their international partners to gather information about the Russian military assets in the region.
“In Crimea, the water has washed away the barriers, and this opens a little window of opportunity for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, we must take into account the fact that satellite images of synthetic-aperture radars (SAR) clearly show how the Russian Federation has concentrated extremely powerful electronic warfare systems in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol harbour and that they disrupt even the sensors of SAR satellites. This area is so powerful that the white spot in the satellite images is equal to the size of the city,” said Katkov.
Synthetic-aperture radar, in a nutshell, is just a radar technology able to take images of large areas of land. Unlike optical systems, SARs don’t get bothered by weather. They go through clouds, operate in any lighting conditions.
SAR technology is used for all kinds of applications – from geology and forest management to military surveillance. Optical systems can be tricked by camouflage and the SAR can be fooled by powerful electronic warfare systems.
Russia has such powerful electronic warfare systems that certain areas in satellite images appear white. Those white spots hide sensitive Russian objects – harbours, dry docks, buildings, and ships. Naval News analysts noted that the Russians in Crimea know how to disrupt satellite data collection. Specifically, SAR-based imaging can be disrupted using electronic warfare systems..
“Before, nothing like this was seen in the entire occupied Crimea. It is in Sevastopol that the enemy has concentrated the largest number of electronic warfare systems, which are so powerful that they blind satellites,” added Katkov.
Is this cover impenetrable? Well, SAR is not the only way to gather intelligence. There are people on the ground, drones, optical systems. Russia has the upper hand in the electronic warfare technology, but in this case, it is not a game changer.
Written by Povilas M.