Ukraine Drones Use Sigint Radio Evesdropping To Hit Russians In Fog

Winter fog has made it more difficult for Ukrainian drones to hit Russian targets. 

So with their usual creativity and innovation, the Ukrainians are now using signals intelligence - tracking radio transmissions - to locate and then strike Russian troops and equipment. JL

David Axe reports in Trench Art:

Winter fog can “significantly degrade” drone operations. It’s a problem the Ukrainians are mitigating with admirable ingenuity. Deploying ground robots to spot targets for aerial robots. And, more recently, using signals intelligence—radio eavesdropping, basically—to locate Russian assault groups before sending in the drones mostly blind. "With the help of SIGINT and other tools, we are able to destroy the enemy.”

Ukraine’s drones are everywhere all the time along the 700-mile front line of Russia’s 45-month wide war on Ukraine. But a first-person-view drone performs only as well as its operator can see.

And the winter fog that has blanketed much of the front line for weeks now limits visibility to around 50 yards, according to Ukrainian drone operator Kriegsforscher. This bad weather can “significantly degrade” drone operations, Carnegie Endowment analyst Michael Kofman wrote.

It’s a problem for Ukraine’s faltering defense—one the Ukrainians are mitigating with admirable ingenuity. Deploying ground robots to spot targets for aerial robots. And, more recently, using signals intelligence—radio eavesdropping, basically—to locate Russian assault groups before sending in the drones mostly blind.

The armed forces of Ukraine “have awful weather conditions during the day and night,” Kriegsforscher wrote on Friday. “But with the help of SIGINT and other tools, we are able to destroy the enemy.”