UAVs
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...
) and airborne systems guided by radar. The Krasukha has multiple applications in the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
.
Krasukha-2
The Krasukha-2 is a
S-band
The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...
system designed to
jam
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread.
There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...
Airborne Early Warning and Control
An airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the ...
(AWACS) aircraft such as the
Boeing E-3 Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weathe ...
at ranges of up to .
The Krasukha-2 can also jam other airborne radars, such as those for radar-guided missiles. The missiles, once jammed, then receive a false target away from the original to ensure that the missiles no longer pose a threat. The Krasukha-2 guards mobile high-priority targets such as the
9K720 Iskander
The 9K720 Iskander (; NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) is a Russian mobile short-range ballistic missile system. It has a range of . It was intended to replace the OTR-21 Tochka in the Russian military by 2020.
The Iskander has several differ ...
SRBM
A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of to . In past and potential regional conflicts, these missiles have been and would be used because of the short distances between some countries and their relative low co ...
.
Krasukha-4
The Krasukha-4 is a broadband multifunctional jamming station mounted on a BAZ-6910-022 four-axle-chassis. It complements the Krasukha-2 system by operating in the
X-band
The X band is the designation for a band of frequency, frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is set at approximately 7.0â ...
and
Ku-band
The Ku band () is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally ), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band ...
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...
(LEO)
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
s and can cause permanent damage to targeted radio-electronic devices. Ground based radars are also a viable target for the Krasukha-4.
Operators
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Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...
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Operational history
Krasukha jammers were reportedly deployed to support Russian forces in Syria. They have reportedly been blocking small U.S. surveillance drones from receiving GPS satellite signals. During the Turkish intervention in the Syrian civil war, the complex apparently destroyed a Bayraktar drone by causing it to lose control, subsequently crashing. The
Israeli Defense Force
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
had problems in 2021 with the Krasukha S-4 GPS denial system, which led to Israel's successful development of non-GPS weapons targeting and anti-GPS-jamming technology.
In July 2018, an
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
monitoring mission drone recorded a 1L269 Krasukha-2 among other electronic warfare equipment deployed near
Chornukhyne
Chornushyne (), formerly Chornukhyne (), is a rural settlement in Alchevsk urban hromada, Alchevsk Raion (district), Luhansk Oblast (region), Ukraine. It was formerly in the Popasna Raion and then Perevalsk Raion. In the 2001 Ukrainian census, ...
, Ukraine.
In 2018, Russia’s Krasukha-4 microwave cannon reportedly grounded an American AH-64 Apache attack helicopter in Syria by damaging its electrical circuits.
In 2020, Krasukha was claimed (without evidence) to have operated around the Russian military base at Gyumri in
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
to counter the use by
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
of Turkish-made
Bayraktar TB2
Bayraktar TB2 (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Standard-bearer TB2'') is a Medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operati ...
loitering munition
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces captured one of these devices in the field near Kyiv. A photograph posted to social media claims to show part of the system, which has been separated from its truck mount and shows some damage. The unit was then sent to the United States for examination.
On 9 August 2023, a source in the Russian defense industry told the state news agency
TASS
The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide.
TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...
that several Southeast Asian nations and an Eastern European country have ordered the Krasukha and Sapphire EW systems.
See also
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Repellent-1
Repellent-1 () is a Russian electronic warfare system designed to suppress the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles at a distance of up to . It weighs more than 20 tons.
The system is able to detect miniature air targets from their control sign ...