The main tool in Russia’s fight against Ukrainian reconnaissance drones is not the enemy’s anti-aircraft drones, but anti-drone radar stations, in particular a system called SKVP.
The main tool in Russia’s fight against Ukrainian reconnaissance drones is not the enemy’s anti-aircraft drones, but anti-drone radar stations, in particular a system called SKVP.
As military signalman and expert Sergey «Flash» Beskrestnov told Defense Express in an interview, 90% of the enemy’s total anti-drone surveillance system is provided by the radar called the «Airspace Control System».
Flash warns that if the situation is not radically corrected, the enemy will destroy most of the Ukrainian reconnaissance UAVs.
«This means that the Ukrainian Defense Forces will be left without a significant amount of information about the enemy’s actions in its immediate rear, including the concentration of forces to break through the defense. And also without the ability to deliver effective strikes against it. Because any high-precision weapon, for example, HIMARS, works only when it has current target coordinates with similar accuracy,» the publication reports the expert’s opinion.
The SKVP radar, manufactured by the company «High-precision complexes», has a fixed phased array antenna measuring 1,2×1 meter with a viewing angle of 90 degrees, operates in the S-band (most often fixed in the range of 2700-3100 MHz). They are located no closer than 5-7 km from the front line, most often it is installed in landings (the enemy does not raise it to towers or roofs).
The SKVP allows you to detect UAVs at a range of up to 20 km, which is already being guided by anti-aircraft drone operators who are positioned 2-5 km from the radar. In addition to the SKVP, there are also other Russian radars: Raduga and Repeynyk.
When asked how to search for such radars, Sergey «Flash» Beskrestnov noted that this is a rather difficult task. It is quite difficult to detect them with ground-based electronic reconnaissance equipment, because the Russians place them in lowlands.
«Some help is provided by radio reconnaissance satellites, which record their radiation. But they only give the area of the target, and then it still needs to be visually searched for with drones. And the SKVP is quite miniature, flat and has no moving parts, it can be camouflaged quite easily and qualitatively. It also does not heat up very much, which makes searching for it using thermal imaging cameras ineffective,» said Flash.
According to him, the key remains the search for external factors — the power source, because it requires about 1 kW, the activity of personnel, etc.
«The task of developing an effective solution for searching for and destroying enemy anti-drone radars should be given significant priority. Because there is no simple countermeasure, and the threat is very significant,» the material notes.
Recall that Flash previously reported that Russia is actively implementing the technology of remote control of long-range drones via mesh networks, in particular in the «Shahedi».
Also, according to his information, the enemy is working on increasing the accuracy and range of strikes by «Lightning» UAVs.
