Advanced system to guard Russia from hi-tech surveillance, drone attacks

Russia’s Defense Ministry has received the top-notch anti-radar system Krasukha-4. The system is designed to guard against aircraft-based electronic surveillance - including that carried out by drones.

Bryansk electromechanical plant has delivered 1RL257 Krasukha-4 broadband multifunctional jamming stations to the defense ministry, RIA Novosti reported on Sunday, citing a spokesman from the Radioelectronic Technologies group.

The stations, which will complement Krasukha-2 units already in use by the Russian army, will provide the military with powerful radar jamming capability.

While technical details of the units have remained top-secret, sources cited by Russian media have described the system as “unique.”

Krasukha-4 is able to effectively shield objects on the ground against radio-locating surveillance satellites, ground-based radars, or aircraft-installed Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS), a source with knowledge of the system told Izvestiya.

The protective jamming shield may span up to a 300-kilometer radius, he said.

Moreover, interference caused by Krasukha-4 will render radio-controlled missile attacks ineffective. The system has been designed to counter attacks from enemies possessing advanced technologies, the source added.

More specifically, the new Russian system has been described as a tool against “flying radars,” such as the USAF E-8 Joint STARS aircraft, or reconnaissance satellites - like the United States’ Lacrosse satellite - and a means of protection against surveillance and combat unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as drones.

Media sources named the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator as drones which Krasukha-4 could guard ground objects and troops against.