Hello! Ukraine found a way to “bullfight” the Kinzhal missiles (which are eating wheat)

Ukraine is using a new electronic warfare tactic to deflect feared Russian Kinzhal missiles. Instead of reaching strategic targets, they end up falling into wheat fields.

In recent weeks, the Kinzhal missilesRussia’s most advanced hypersonic weapon, have been diverted from their main objectives by the Ukrainian army, leading many of them to crash in places where they do not cause significant damage.

Although Russia has improved the capabilities of these missiles to avoid interceptors such as the North American Patriot, which has lowered the kill rate from 37% in August to just 6% in September, a new one used by Ukraine is now neutralizing the threat of the Kinzhal, which exceed speeds of Mach 5.

The Ukrainian group Night Watchwhich had already found a way to block Russian hypersonic missiles , now claims to have eliminated 21 Kinzhal missiles with the new technique — and awaits official confirmation for two more.

The technology of spoofing usada, supported by the Lima system of electronic warfare, has already achieved divert dozens of missiles of various typesminimizing damage to critical Ukrainian infrastructure and avoiding material losses worth millions.

How it works

As the analyst explains David Hambling in an article in the magazine, the technique of spoofing electronic device used by the Ukrainians deceives Russian missiles “from the same way a bullfighter’s crutch distracts the bull during an attack.”

Os sistemas Kinzhal utilizam inertial navigationwhich traces the trajectory of missiles using accelerometers and data from the Russian constellation of satellites GLONASSconsidered more reliable by the Kremlin than the American GPS.

Although inertial navigation can accumulate deviations of tens or even hundreds of meters per minute, information from satellites allows correction much more accurate — at least until Ukraine has now started using the new electronic countermeasures.

The secret is that the Lima system Don’t limit yourself to blocking signalsa method that simply interferes or disables the enemy system through signal power, but rather in send false signalscausing the missile miscalculate your position and “believe” you are aiming at the target correct, when in fact it is being led to a wheat field.

“We created a navigation denial zone and we transmit a specific signal in binary format. In certain flight modes, this causes serious anomalies in one of the missile’s channels, forcing the autopilot to seek stabilization and ignore other sensors”, explains a Night Watch source to Hambling.

The effectiveness of the technique is clear: there are craters that show deviations of up to 144 meters from the target, when the Kinzhal’s probable error, according to the manufacturer, does not exceed 10 meters. In one case, spoofing led to a missile falling “200 km from the aerodrome that was its objective”, guarantees the same source.

Debris from a Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missile diverted to an empty field through spoofing

According to , Russia also resorted to a similar system to stop the Himars Ukrainians, in this case blocking the GPS signal that guides them.

In the near future, it is expected that both the US, Russia and other military powers will continue to develop new systems to detect and counter spoofing. The war is turning into a game of cat and mousein which each electronic innovation is followed by a response that tries to cancel it.

But until Russia finds an antidote, the Kinzhal, which Putin once described as “almost impossible to stop“, will continue to miss their targets — and waste millions of rubles.