With the continuous development of global information technology, the focus of modern warfare has gradually shifted to electronic confrontation, and the original mode of warfare based on fire suppression, strategic support, and mobile operations is changing toward information warfare methods such as photoelectric radiation, electromagnetic interference, and communication confrontation. As a key force in "multi-dimensional three-dimensional warfare", electronic confrontation has run through the entire process of war with its new characteristics of "soft killing, hard control, and high technology" and has become the strategic focus of military experts. As a major country in the development of electronic warfare equipment, Russia has decades of development history in the field of electronic countermeasures, electronic warfare equipment emerges in an endless stream, and its performance characteristics have been tested on the battlefield. So what is the current level of electronic warfare equipment of the Russian army? Why has Russia not given up the development of electronic warfare equipment? What is the picture of the future development trend of electronic warfare?
Review history and sum up experience - the development of electronic warfare equipment is imminent
Historically, in June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy. Although Hitler had long been prepared and deployed more than 40 radars on the Normandy Peninsula, Britain and the United States used electromagnetic signals to create many landing illusions before the battle, Hitler believed it, and transferred a large number of troops to the opposite direction, and finally 200,000 Anglo-American troops landed smoothly, successfully opening up the second battlefield against Germany. Looking at the Battle of Bekagu in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on June 9, 1982, Israel used unmanned aircraft as bait, fighter jets, early warning aircraft, electronic jammers and other fighters to fight together, taking only 6 minutes to completely destroy 19 SAM missile positions in Syria and the Soviet Union. With the continuous development of electronic equipment and the continuous application of electronic space joint combat methods to various battlefields, countries around the world have gradually clearly realized the terrifying power of electronic warfare on the battlefield, and the importance of electronic warfare in modern warfare has become impossible to ignore.
Russian military personnel operate electronic warfare equipment
Developments in the Syrian crisis: Major General Thomas, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, called the Syrian battlefield "the most intense electronic warfare environment on the planet." Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the United States and Russia have engaged in fierce confrontation in the field of electronic warfare. On the night of April 16, 2018, the Syrian air defense forces said that they intercepted about 10 missiles from the United States and Israel, but it turned out that they had only suffered electromagnetic deception. Syrian government forces not only waste a large number of anti-aircraft missiles, but also expose a lot of military-sensitive information.
Russia is also equipped with a large number of electronic warfare equipment in the Syrian theater, repeatedly implemented electronic countermeasures to blind NATO's electromagnetic reconnaissance and intelligence collection system, continuously monitored the electromagnetic environment around the area where the troops are stationed, and obstructed the enemy's UAV information transmission channel to ensure that Russian units in Syria are not hit by potential wireless equipment electromagnetic strikes. The excellent performance of electromagnetic strikes in combat makes electronic countermeasures an indispensable powerful force on the battlefield in the future and an important factor in determining the outcome of wars. According to this, in the future, countries are bound to increase the research and development of electronic countermeasures equipment, and even form special electronic countermeasures units.
From the perspective of Russia's national security strategy: During the Russian-Georgian conflict in 2008, due to the mismatch of electronic warfare combat forces, the Russian army suffered certain losses at the beginning of the war. Since then, the Russian military's understanding of electronic warfare has changed significantly: electronic warfare is no longer just a means of paralyzing enemy weapons, but also a "killer tool" for seizing the advantage of electromagnetic space. Under such understanding, Russia has vigorously promoted the development of electronic warfare systems. In September 2017, the Estonian International Defense and Security Center released a research report entitled "Russian Electronic Warfare Capabilities 2025", which introduced the military ideology, organizational structure and future development of Russian electronic warfare, while demonstrating the strength of Russian electronic warfare. This was fully demonstrated in the 2014 ukraine conflict. The development of Russian information warfare is a summary of every failure, and the introduction of relevant plans to purposefully strengthen electronic warfare capabilities is forced by the development of modern science and technology and international security threats.
Russian electronic warfare equipment
Continue to be brilliant, continue a new chapter - take stock of the key forces of Russian electronic warfare
Nowadays, the electromagnetic environment of modern warfare is becoming increasingly complex, and in order to cope with the national security threats brought about by the deterioration of the surrounding security situation and geopolitical environment, Russia has continuously introduced new high-tech weapons related to electromagnetism and developed electronic integrated combat systems.
In February 2020, the U.S. National Interest reported that Russia used the "Belina" electronic warfare system to successfully destroy the electronic components of two of the most advanced U.S. fighters deployed in syria, the F-22 and F-35, making it difficult to return. It is also reported that on October 15, 2020, the Russian forces in Syria used a high-power electronic warfare system to successfully burn the electronic components inside many "Apache" helicopters of the US military, causing the helicopter to fall suddenly and several American soldiers to be seriously injured. Russian electronic warfare systems and equipment have been reported frequently.
Russia's existing electronic warfare equipment and electronic warfare systems with "asymmetric" advantages have greatly improved its control in the field of electronics. According to the data released by the Russian side, the results of Russia's electronic warfare are likely to lose the advantages of high-tech weapons possessed by the United States. Next, take stock of several high-performance Russian electronic warfare systems and equipment.
1. The "Khibiny" electronic warfare system, known as the destroyer's nightmare, is a smaller torpedo-like container mounted at the end of the aircraft's wings, and its role is to protect the loaded fighter from all modern anti-aircraft weapons and enemy fighters. After receiving an early warning of a missile attack, the "Hibine" system activates the "radar shield" to cover the aircraft, changing the missile channel so that it cannot hit the aircraft, and is currently installed on the "Su-30", "Su-34" and "Su-35" fighters.
2. "Moskva-1" is an advanced radar positioning system, which was installed in March 2015 by the Russian army, can work normally at extremely low and extremely high temperatures, and is responsible for providing the "Krassukha-4" with an electronic situation with a radius of 400 km. In addition, the system can also set up tasks for 9 controlled electronic warfare systems and air defense systems at the same time, for attack or defense. As a passive detector, the Mosco-1 system can detect targets in passive positioning mode, that is, detect enemy radar without exposing its own position. Not only that, but the Moscow-1 system can also distinguish the type of target and accurately determine whether it is a missile or an aircraft.
3, "Krasukha" (Krasukha) is a Russian-made ground electronic warfare system, can be the enemy early warning aircraft radar with a radius of up to 250 kilometers of interference radiation waves, under this strong radio suppression, the early warning aircraft can not guide precision weapons, resulting in the launched missiles will change their designated flight mission, attack towards false targets, thereby ensuring the safety of the Russian electronic system. As a high-performance electronic warfare system, the "Krassouha-4" was deployed at the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, during which it successfully blocked dozens of rebel attacks and helped the Russian side destroy more than 230 rebel drones. In general, as a land-based mobile electronic warfare system, the "Krassuha" electronic warfare system can be used to suppress and oppose air-ground-based detection systems such as early warning aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, ground radars, and reconnaissance satellites, thus greatly improving the survivability of Russian electronic warfare equipment. The "Krassouha" electronic warfare system has gradually become the backbone of Russian electronic warfare.
4. The "Tu-214R" reconnaissance aircraft is currently the most advanced reconnaissance aircraft installed by the Russian Air and Space Force. In March 2020, the military conflict between Russia and Turkey in Syria intensified, and the confrontation between the two countries became more and more obvious. In response to Turkey's provocative behavior, the Russian military increased its military exports in Syria and secretly sent the "Tu-214R" reconnaissance aircraft to Idlib to carry out reconnaissance missions and play a major role. Equipped with electronic intelligence sensors, PTK-MPK-411 multi-frequency radar systems and "fragments" high-resolution photoelectric systems, the "Tu-214R" reconnaissance aircraft can see through tens of meters underground. In the Syrian conflict between Russia and Turkey, the reconnaissance aircraft made the camouflage of the Syrian rebel forces completely useless with its excellent ability to detect underground fortifications and infrared reconnaissance. In addition, the Tu-214R reconnaissance aircraft can also carry out large-scale electronic intelligence and signal intelligence collection, scan ground targets and detect missile launches. At the same time, the radar system of the Tu-214R reconnaissance aircraft can intercept aircraft radar and other radio signals, listen to satellite and mobile phone calls, and is a major weapon for Russia to carry out electronic warfare.
Strengthen strength, balance the United States - develop the electronics field to gain asymmetric advantages
Since 2014, the United States and NATO have encircled and squeezed Russia and adopted many economic sanctions, resulting in a serious blow to Russia's economic construction and a sharp reduction in military funding. In response to the security threats posed by the United States and NATO, the Russian side proposed an "asymmetric military development strategy" to change from quantitative scale to mass effect and create asymmetric military superiority. The strategy successfully eased the pressure brought by the United States and NATO, and fought back fiercely against the rapid offensive of the United States and NATO in a key area - electronic confrontation.
In July 2021, Putin issued a new version of Russia's National Security Strategy, redefining Russia's national interests, national strategic priorities, and national security safeguard measures. Among them, in the military aspect, the new version of the National Security Strategy emphasizes the development of "asymmetric" measures as the focus of national strategic development to deal with foreign misconduct that threatens Russia's territorial and sovereign integrity. Prior to this, Russia had included electronic warfare equipment in the "asymmetric military development strategy", and the development of electronic warfare equipment increased the export volume of Russian military equipment, which greatly promoted Russia's economic construction. With the launch of intelligent warfare and informationized warfare in the world, electronic confrontation has gradually become an important means to win the modern battlefield. The new version of the "National Security Strategy" once again lists the promotion of electronic warfare equipment construction as an important development direction of Russia's strategy. "Today, some unfriendly countries are trying to take advantage of Russia's socio-economic problems to incite division and politically strike at me, but Russia has succeeded in showing the world the resilience of its economy and demonstrating its ability to cope with external sanctions pressure," the document said. The development of electronic warfare equipment is one of the main means of developing military "asymmetric superiority" and one of the effective means to counter the United States.
In addition, in 2019, the US "National Interest" magazine published a research report on the weapons and equipment of the US Army on the Russian Army. The report pointed out that although the number of modern weapons and equipment of the Russian military is very different from that of the US military, Russia's "asymmetric capability" has developed rapidly and is a great threat to THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY OF the United States. Therefore, continuing to develop asymmetric electronic countermeasures has become a key strategy for Russia to balance the United States, which is also a major reason why Russia has not given up the development of electronic warfare equipment.
Nowadays, the development of intelligence is accelerating the promotion of electronic warfare into a new field, the future of war is bound to move towards a deeper field, a wider space, stronger technology of electronic warfare development, electronic battlefield as a sea, land, air and space four-dimensional battlefield after the fifth dimensional battlefield, the strategic position is gradually improving. As Putin said in the new version of the national weapons and equipment development program: "In the future, Russian weapons and equipment should use hypersonic and cognitive technologies, focusing on artificial intelligence and robotics, hypersonic weapons, and the latest intelligence, navigation, communication and control systems." "Therefore, the development of electronic warfare equipment, the creation of electronic warfare and modern warfare complexes, and the realization of electronic warfare intelligence are gradually becoming important factors in determining the future image and combat potential of the Russian armed forces."
In the future, the weight of electronic warfare in war will certainly become heavier and heavier, and accelerating the development of electronic countermeasures technology will become a "key move" to seize the initiative on the battlefield. Powerful electronic warfare capabilities are not only conducive to protecting their own military units, but also can be used as asymmetric forces to win advantages for themselves in state-to-state trials. The strength of electronic warfare capabilities is bound to determine the outcome of war to a large extent, and the development of electronic countermeasures technology has become a top priority.
Source: World Wide Web