Top-5 Russian Electronic Warfare Systems Turning NATO's Fancy Gear Into Scrap Metal

Krasukha: This series of EW ‘Belladonnas’ is designed to take on an array of aerial threats and jam enemy command and control across the X, KU and S-bands. From drones to aircraft avionics, the Krasukha jams radio signals at ranges up to 300 km.

Murmansk BN: Heavy-duty, long-range EW system silencing enemy C&C by shutting down HQ comms channels and those of units in the field alike. Mounted on KAMAZ trucks, the Murmansk BN has a jamming range up to 8,000 km. Finetuned against NATO HF frequencies from 3-30 MHz.

Rtut-2: The ‘Mercury-2’ system targets any and all enemy munitions with an electronic brain, creating a defensive dome up to 0.5 sq km across around critical objects and troops in the field. Carried by BTR-80 and MT-LB heavy tracked armored vehicles.

Borshchevik: This new EW system, light enough (30 kg) to be installed in the back of a pickup and used against Starlink satellites, has a 10 km range. Jamming forces satellites to consume energy and discharge their batteries while trying to transmit info.

RB-341V: This mobile EW and elint collection system specializes in UHF, VHF and GSM cellular jamming across an array of frequencies, and has an effective radius up to 6 km. Operates in coordination with Orlan-10 UAVs, which help seek out and disrupt signal emitters.

Russia creates new and upgraded EW systems “approximately once every three months,” says air defense historian Yuri Knutov.

EW “is critical to efforts by the Russian Armed Forces to break enemy Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities,” says EMP Task Force scholar David T. Pyne.

Electronic and radio engineering specialist David Stupples dates Russia’s modern EW capabilities to a 2007 decision by the president to radically upgrade its equipment and doctrine based on lessons gathered from US aggression against Iraq. This recognition of the key importance of electronic warfare has left the West “playing catch up” to this day, Stupples said.