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Russia jamming US drones over Syria

The head of the US Special Operations Command said "unspecified opponents" - meaning Russia - have launched electronic warfare attacks in Syria, posing a growing threat of jamming to the US.

Published: April 30, 2018, 5:00 am

    According to US Army General Raymond Thomas, who is in charge of all of America’s special operations activities, this “non-kinetic” activity was used against US Air Force AC-130 gunships operating in the country, as well as other communications.

    Thomas gave a keynote speech at the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s 2018 GEOINT Symposium. “Right now in Syria, we’re in the most aggressive EW [electronic warfare] environment on the planet from our adversaries,” Thomas said. “They’re testing us every day, knocking our communications down, disabling our AC-130s, etcetera.”

    It has been suggested that the general was actually referring to the US Air Force’s EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft.

    Thomas suggested that Russia, which he only referred to as “the enemy”, was succeeding in disrupting or systematically disabling the US systems in Syria making it impossible for the Pentagon to survey the combat zone. Officials explained that the GPS system of US drones was blocked, which could inflict serious harm, causing them to malfunction or even crash, NBC reported.

    During the missile attack on Syria of 14 April, the Russian army succeeded in hacking the GPS transmissions with the effect that some missiles were diverted away from their intended targets. Moreover, the systems for friend/enemy recognition stopped working too. In these conditions, a surveillance aircraft was not only a waste of time but also dangerous.

    The US Defense Department didn’t say whether any drones have suffered such a fate in Syria recently. Officials told NBC that the jamming attacks being used by Russia are particularly advanced, capable of interfering with encrypted communication channels. The attacks are also said to be having an “operational impact” in Syria.

    The AC-130W Stinger II, one of the Americans types used in Syria and Iraq, relies heavily on precision-guided munitions, including GPS-guided GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). Jamming GPS receivers impairs a gunship’s ability to accurately attack targets.

    The jamming also impedes airlift missions or airdrops of supplies, as the US Air Force now employs GPS-assisted airdrop systems.

    A friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in 2014, in which a B-1 bomber accidentally killed five Americans, offers a clear example of how things can go badly wrong. A final review showed the inability of the aircraft’s targeting system to detect infrared strobes that special operators use to identify themselves to friendly aircraft that contributed to the tragedy.

    Russia continues to demonstrate its electronic warfare capabilities, especially in Europe, and has publicly stated that it has deployed them in Syria. Previous reports however have suggested that unmanned aircraft, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, have not suffered from Russian jamming.

    Jamming short-range drones limits the ability of American troops to gain a picture of the situation around them, and have helped to keep US unmanned aircraft out of Western Syria, where the Syrian Army is firmly in control.

    Manned aircraft from the American-led coalition – which some analysts say have been in support of ISIS – have long ago stopped flying in that part of the country.

    General Thomas’ speech is only the most recent indication US forces in Syria are finding it hard to operate.

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