Russian satellite-gagging jammer field tests announced

A leading Russian producer of electronic warfare systems is to roll out a new jammer that would render enemy precision weapons useless by suppressing guidance systems, including those relying on satellite signals.

“The system is meant to jam enemy aviation, carrier-launched, tactical and strategic, and jam the signals of foreign military satellites,” Yury Maevsky, deputy head of KRET, told TASS

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KRET is a leading producer of military hardware, including advance electronic warfare equipment. Its latest long-range jammer, Krasukha-4, entered service in 2013 and is gradually replacing older variants, while smaller-scale systems provided security during last year’s Olympics in Sochi.

The new jammer currently in development would have ground-based, aircraft and naval variants, Maevsky said. Despite targeting enemy satellite signals, no space-based variant is planned as it would be a violation of international treaties, he stressed.

КРЭТ обогнал ведущие мировые компании по инвестициям в инновации http://t.co/zvJquLhWRH #КРЭТ #инновации#Thalespic.twitter.com/TNoxUJjPbm

— KRET (@KRETRussia) May 21, 2015

His aide, Vladimir Mikheev, added that the ground-based version is to enter field trials later this year.

“It will be used against cruise missiles and jab enemy radar stations. It would effectively ‘turn off’ enemy weapons,” he said.