The West needs to be ready for modern war – masses of drones and a battlespace saturated with electronic warfare ⬇️

WIRED has an insightful article on the Invisible Russia-Ukraine Battlefield that we’ll post in the comments. This is a good read about the fight to attain and retain the innovation edge in a battlespace saturated with electronic warfare capability.

“Hundreds of Electronic Drone Mitigation 4 Systems have been donated to Ukraine over the past two years. They are just one weapon in an unseen, and under-appreciated, battle for control of the electromagnetic spectrum. Powering this battle is a furious arms race. Ukraine and its allies on one side, Russia on the other. Both sides are trying to innovate better ways to spoof, jam, and disrupt enemy communications, particularly drones, while simultaneously working to harden their own systems against hostile signals.”

The article gives a good summary of the innovation journey for both Ukraine and Russia and the constant incremental changes in tactics, techniques and procedures being used to gain a temporary edge. EW has become so effective that drones are needing to utilise a combination of GPS, terrain mapping and electronic signal intelligence to navigate and fibre optic cable controlled drones are starting to appear at scale.

One way to get real time feedback on the effectiveness and utility of tactical systems is to digitise the demand signal and enable decision making to occur as close to the warfighter as possible – and it appears both sides are making steps to do this.

Ukraine is looking to speed up the delivery of drones and EW equipment to the warfighter through a fit for the fight procurement process. The Kyiv Independent is reporting that the Ukraine cabinet approved the ability for Military commanders to purchase tactical level drones and EW equipment without complicated bureaucratic approvals. Interestingly Russian News Agency TASS is also reporting that Russia is launching an online platform for sale of drones and spare parts – a military marketplace for authorised commanders to self service. We’ll post links to both articles in the comments.

Plenty of lessons to be learned for the West on how modern warfare is evolving and how best to leverage innovation and warfighter wisdom!

📷 via The Kyiv Independent