Some Ukrainian soldiers spot a drone hundreds of meters high that is tracking them. They get a kind of polished black aluminum rifle with no muzzle opening, which launches an electromagnetic pulse instead of bullets. They disconnected the Russian drone from the command center who is watching over them. After the shot, the drone falls to the ground or makes an emergency landing. War spoils. Some are set to automatically return to base if the connection is lost. There are risks: the most advanced can preprogram attack coordinates, so interception attempts can accelerate the launch of a grenade, for example.
Scenes like this are part of the drone war between Russia and Ukraine on Ukrainian soil. The ‘rifle’ is actually an unmanned aircraft interception system. One of the most popular is Lithuanian-made: Electronic Drone Mitigation System 4 or EDM4S, for the English abbreviation.
It is a device that weighs just over five kilograms and is one meter long. It can be operated by a single soldier. Pulling the trigger sends an electromagnetic pulse up to five kilometers away, according to the manufacturer NT Service UAB.
The Ukrainian Army uses it extensively. Photographs of soldiers in the trench with the EDM4S in hand or pose pointing at the sky They fill the social networks of accounts following the war in Ukraine. Russians are increasingly using drones. In Vladimir Putin’s revenge against the civilian population of Kiev after the destruction of the Crimean bridge, the Putin Army used Iranian-made kamikaze drones Shahed-136, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Specifically, on October 10 alone, Russia used 17 Shahed-136 launched from Belarus and Crimea, in addition to 87 missiles. It is estimated that Russia has at least 400 of these kamikaze drones. The subject is so important The foreign ministers of the European Union will discuss this issue at a meeting this Monday. Two diplomatic sources told Euronews that they may be able to reach a political agreement on future sanctions over the drone trading activity between Iran and Russia.
NATO announced this week that it will devote all its efforts to strengthening Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defenses. For this, they will deliver “hundreds” of inhibitor equipment. Against Russian and Iranian-made drones.
Anti-drone rifles have limited effectiveness. “They are often used against micro, mini and medium drones that fly slowly, at low distances and have little protection against interference,” explains the Prensa Ibérica group to El Periódico de España, Christian VillanuevaDirector of Army Magazine.
When it comes to Shaheed-136 drones, we’re talking about devices that fly relatively high – up to 4000 meters – and are of considerable size, weighing around 200kg, in most cases out of reach of anti-drone rifles. . In other words, it would be complicated, if not impossible to shoot them down with an anti-drone rifle (the manufacturer of the EDM4S says it has a range of up to 5,000 meters).
One of its advantages is its low cost. “We have purchased 110 powerful Lithuanian EDM4S Sky Cleaner anti-drone guns for shipment to Ukraine as soon as possible,” journalist Andrius Tapinas said in a statement last June. “The cost has been 1.5 million euros (approximately 14,000 euros per rifle). These will be distributed among 35 Ukrainian military units. And we shall call them “orc killers”. [nombre despectivo de los soldados rusos]As Tolkien wanted.
More advanced air defense systems should be used for better protected and longer military drones. If mobility is required on the battlefield, a Stinger-type MANPAD portable air defense system can be used, explains Villanueva, even traditional anti-aircraft artillery with 25 or 30 mm ammunition.
They can also be used medium and long range anti-aircraft missilesHe concludes that he is a military affairs specialist, although the cost is high relative to the cost of each Shaheed-136 (about $20,000).
Spain announced this Thursday that it will provide four HAWK missile launchers To improve the Ukrainian air defense. France and the Netherlands have also pledged to ship to strengthen them. It is part of a program announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “The Allies supply Ukraine with advanced systems, including artillery, air defense and armored vehicles,” said the Norwegian. 2023.
The EDM4S is not new to the Ukrainian battlefield. Military journalist Andriy Tsaplienko reported that a year ago, the Ukrainian Army began using the EDM4S drone reduction system, purchased by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to counter grenade launches by pro-Russian militias. VOG.17 or mines against the Ukrainian trenches in the Donbas. But after the total invasion of the country ordered by Putin, the use of this and similar systems to disable drones is the key to final victory.