Russian electronic warfare technologies are ahead of American ones and pose a particular threat to the US and NATO forces in Europe, analyst Samuel Bendett of the US Center for Naval Analysis told C4ISRNET.
In his opinion, Russian systems represent "a mature technology that continues to evolve after the collapse of the Soviet Union." The expert believes that during the Cold War, the United States could be ahead of the USSR in such technologies, however, due to "the absence of the threat that Moscow posed until 1991," it lost its leadership.
“So over the past few years, the Americans have suddenly faced their depleted capabilities compared to Russian electronic warfare technology and concept of operations. Objectively speaking, the United States can catch up with the current Russian potential, but that will take time,”Bendett said.
The expert noted that Russian electronic warfare systems "can potentially function for hundreds of kilometers" and provide for work in conditions of inaccessibility of GPS and GLONASS, and have also been tested in combat conditions in Syria.
Bendett separately noted the “multilevel defense” approach implemented by Russia in Syria, where in conjunction with electronic warfare systems (RB-341V “Leer-3”, “Krasukha” and 1L267 “Moscow-1”), early warning radars and air defense systems are involved ("Pantsir-S"). This approach, the expert noted, has shown its effectiveness.
The expert noted that currently Russia in Syria and the Black Sea "is collecting a huge amount of intelligence signals from all types of Western assets - from missiles to aircraft and other electronic signatures." “More than anything, this could pose a potential threat to Western technological dominance, as Russian electronic warfare systems can learn to counter US NATO military hardware by targeting its specific electronic signals and signatures,” Bendett said.
The expert noted that Russia's plans include the use of artificial intelligence in electronic warfare systems, as well as the integration of such technologies for "all of its combat strength."
In October 2017, Bendett said that Russian developments in military unmanned aerial vehicles were lagging behind similar foreign projects.
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