Previously, aircraft flying over the Baltic region reported issues in GPS function. Several media outlets attributed the issues to the Russian Army testing electronic weapons. On January 16, the Press Service of Russia’s Western Military District announced that the Baltic Fleet was carrying out a military drill to protect command posts from enemy UAV strikes.
The exercise made use of electronic warfare (EW) systems RB-341V Leer-3 complex and Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems. During the exercises, a protective ‘dome’ with a radius of several dozen kilometers was created by the EW systems. In total, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, the event involved about 100 servicemen and about 10 vehicles.
The RB-341V Leer-3 is an electronic warfare system based on the Orlan-10 UAV. The system allows for the suppression or interference of the GPS system and imitates the signals of cellular stations in the GSM 900 and GSM 1800 bands, as well as sends false signals.
The January 16 EW exercises were not the first to be held in the Kaliningrad region over the last two months. The publication NIA-Kaliningrad noted that the operation of electronic warfare specialists previously caused similar disturbances and jamming.
For instance, at the end of January, the local “VESTI Kaliningrad” TV program reported on similar drills aimed at shutting down the radio frequency of a conditional AWACS plane.
As the war in Ukraine continues and Finland joins NATO, the Kremlin appears to take the issue of EW, and in particular defense against UAVs of a conditional enemy, rather seriously.
Additional coastal exercises in Kaliningrad Oblast were held on February 17. This time, the goal was the destruction of command posts and satellite communications nodes of a conditional enemy. The exercises involved the operational-tactical missile system Iskander-M.