Can Electronic Jamming Maintain its Relevance on the Changing Battlefield?

Electronic jamming has been a primary defeat method on the battlefield for decades. With the recent meteoric rise of First Person View (FPV) drones as an instrument of warfare, jamming was the first thing our allies turned to defend against this new weapon. Drones have changed the battlefield; the new ones, as we are seeing in Russia and Ukraine, are being designed to be unjammable. Swiftly changing dynamics in electronic warfare could have vast implications for commercial and government actors in the defense-tech sectors.

The history & current state of electronic jamming

Jamming involves sending targeted alternative signals to interfere with enemy electronic components in systems such as GPS navigation or communications networks. Its role in warfare first emerged in WWII alongside the rise of radar and radio communications. Jamming has evolved immensely since then, continuing to be a crucial tactic implemented in modern battles.

Before highlighting its limitations, it's important to recognize that jamming remains powerful in modern warfare, as evidenced by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Ukrainian military officials have relayed how effective Russian jamming systems have been in disrupting weaponry like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) thus far. Interference with Western weaponry via jamming is not contained to HIMARS but has also impacted Excalibur GPS-led shells and other artillery. Accuracy of Excalibur shells fell drastically last year; shockingly, only 10% were hitting targets due to Russian jamming systems.

Undoubtedly, the decreased accuracy of the Excalibur GPS-led shells and HIMARS are merely two examples of the current impact of jamming in modern warfare. Both jamming and spoofing, jamming’s more complex counterpart that tricks electronic systems into establishing false coordinates, are preeminent concerns on battlefields beyond Russia and Ukraine, too.

Even space has emerged as a growing zone of opportunity for countries to expand their jamming capabilities via “counterspace” technology. Early indications signal that China lags behind Russia and the U.S. in this domain, but that could quickly change.

A high-level U.S. defense official indicated that “China is aware of its perceived deficiencies and is trying to remedy them,” per C4ISRNET.

The idea of China and Russia developing widespread, space jamming networks is a threat the defense industry must address.

Anti-jamming advancements

While counter-space advancements would accelerate the ability of countries to interfere with electronic communications, governments and commercial entities are also scrambling to circumvent jamming and electronic spectrum interference entirely. These developments have the potential to push jamming systems into obsolescence. By exploiting jamming’s limitations, countries are more easily able to be on the offensive and defensive.

For example, GPS-denied technology maker and U.S. defense contractor, Vermeer, has a pluggable component that can enhance a drone to allow it to navigate and do its mission without GPS. This helps make drones unjammable.  “Our system - just uses cameras. We are using a deep neural network to match what the cameras on the drone see to a previously captured 3D map that is stored locally on the platform. This totally replaces the need for GPS. It’s totally passive. You can hit it with all the jammers in the world and it won’t jam the system.” says Brian Streem, CEO and Founder of Vermeer, Inc.

Eagle Eyes, a software created by Ukrainian Special Forces, enhances a drone to make it capable of flying without GPS navigation. Its capacities extend to dropping bombs and discerning targets, all sans orders from drone operators. Newer autonomous drone software is not isolated, however, as Russian forces also created a fiber optic drone impervious to jamming systems. The drone operates as its name indicates, communicating via its fiber optic spool rather than with a GPS.

These drones are changing the jamming game with a dangerous combination of characteristics: affordable, autonomous, and anti-jamming technologies.

Drones will continue to mitigate the role of electronic signaling and communication in the battlefield. Look no further than current battles for evidence. The most deadly weapon today in Ukraine is the drone, far more destructive than aircraft and artillery systems. In the Israel-Hamas war, Iran was reported to have launched over 300 missiles and drones into Israel. The majority of these drones were shot down by warplanes, but this is not a guarantee in the future, as drones become progressively more autonomous.

Electronic interference has played an integral role in warfare historically and will continue to do so in the near present. Nonetheless, the rapid development of autonomous drones is already drastically transforming jamming’s role in battle, handing nations like Russia affordable advantages that the U.S. defense industry must combat.

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