Current investigations into downed Russian Shahed drones (Geran 2) show: In many cases, the unmanned systems are equipped with commercially available 4G modems and Ukrainian SIM cards. This makes it easy and uncomplicated to transmit data to the drone operator during the flight and also makes it easier to navigate the drones – but also increases their susceptibility to interference.
The fact that the wreckage of enemy weapons systems, missiles and drones that have been hit, shot down or crashed is often analyzed in detail is nothing new.This tells us a lot about the technological capabilities of the enemy, their production methods, the origin of individual components or the basic function of the systems.
In this way, it may be possible to develop better defense and countermeasures. However, the information gathered can also help to better combat or disrupt the enemy’s production or supply chains.
The drone war is a real treasure trove in this respect (-> The Ukraine war as the first “War of Dornes”), especially because civilian technology is used in many drones.
Last November, for example, a 4G modem with a Ukrainian SIM card was found for the first time in a crashed Russian Geran-2 (Shahed-136) drone. A specimen with a glued-on Wi-Fi camera has also already been spotted.
The first assumption that can be made immediately in view of such equipment: There is a data transfer from the Shahed drone to the shooter during flight. This could be the current position, but also flight parameters and/or technical data from the drone. The devices fly for hours over hundreds of kilometers and it is of course useful for the attacker to know exactly where it is flying and, if it crashes or is shot down, where, why or with what.
As a result, the attacker could choose a different flight route or altitude for further attacks, and reconnaissance positions of air defense systems could be flown around or over.
However, it is of course also possible to immediately evaluate such findings in order to adjust the flight path of other drones during the flight.
LBS functions (Location Based Services), which are generally associated with satellite navigation but are purely network functions, are not so well known. With the help of the cell identification of mobile phone antennas and by measuring the signal propagation time between different antennas, a location can be determined with an accuracy of around 100 to 150 meters. This is not enough to hit a house or an air defense system with certainty, but it is sufficient for an area target such as an industrial plant, a substation or a train station.
In this context, it is perhaps also important to consider the increasing aberrations of some Shahed drones. As simple as the misuse of civilian systems may be, the defense against this misuse is just as simple – as long as the defender has first been able to take a look behind how they work. This may be precisely the reason why an increasing number of Shahed drones from Ukraine (-> current news from the Ukraine war) drifted north and flew to Belarus.
Here to our drone topic area with all the latest news on the subject.
