An Aug. 14 Facebook post shows the discovery of an unused Volnorez complex still in its packaging and complete with all technical documentation.
  • BlucifersVeinyAnusEnglish
    60·
    3 months ago

    This system is considered one of the most advanced and secretive in Russia’s defense arsenal. It works by emitting radio frequency (RF) interference disrupting the control signals between the drone and its operator, forcing it to either land or hover in place until it is brought down, or its battery fails.

    Am I reading this wrong, or, are they in fact saying that Russia’s most advanced defensive technology is an rf jammer?

    • peopleproblems@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      3 months ago

      Given the massive distance these drones fly, I think an RF jammer is the best they could come up with.

      And it doesn’t appear to be very effective judging by the footage of drone attacks.

    • Ansis100@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      3 months ago

      Isn’t an RF jammer basically the only defense against a drone? Apart from shooting it down?

        • Avg@lemm.eeEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          I didn’t think about that but I’m certain I’ve seen a video of an eagle trained to hunt drones.

  • Skua@kbin.earth
    41·
    3 months ago

    Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko commented that he believes the Volnorez system’s capability to be overstated, describing it as practically useless. He argues that it has been deployed on the battlefield for a year without significantly impacting on the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s (AFU) kamikaze drone attacks.

    I know nothing about this guy’s credentials, but this was my first thought. I have seen so many tanks getting destroyed by drones. Are these systems not getting deployed or do they not work?

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      22·
      3 months ago

      Probably a bit of both. I’m sure Russia has been overstating how many operational systems they have. “Appear strong when you are weak”, and all that. But claims and appearances only go so far.

    • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
      1·
      3 months ago

      Presumably they don’t post the ones where it works and the drone crashes

      I suspect it is useless just because of the pace of technological development on the Ukraine side vs. the Russian side, but just the existence of some videos where the EW isn’t working doesn’t mean it’s not working.

        • MartianSandsEnglish
          6·
          3 months ago

          HARM is a category of weapon which seeks things like radar or jammers. They weren’t suggesting that the jammers are literally harmless.

          In unrelated news: the jammers are, in fact, harmless unless you’re making a habit of riding on top of the tank. The radio energy isn’t going to penetrate a significant thickness of conductive material, such as armour plating. Or unless you’re the person being jammed, in which case they’re a different category of harmful

          • werefreeatlast@lemmy.worldEnglish
            25·
            3 months ago

            Ionization is not the only way RF can affect the body. You can generate plasma at low RF energy that is not ionizing. Yet the plasma is bad for you. So if you can generate plasma in vacuum with non ionizing RF, imagine what it can do to anything it can couple to.

  • Blizzard@lemmy.zipEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    I was expecting this counter-drone system was destroyed by Ukrainian drones… but this is even better.

  • realitista@lemm.eeEnglish
    5·
    3 months ago

    Wouldn’t you not want to tell them you have one so that they keep wasting energy and manpower thinking it works?

  • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Look at that, a fantastic find! Even if Sudzha is retaken, the knowledge of Russian anti-drone tech is now revealed. And it’s so stupid. Like, is Russia undergoing an active internal rebellion to help make things worse? Because it’s hard to imagine any effort being so constantly countered - and so effectively!