Alexei Ramm, Vladimir Zykov
Izvestia, August 25, 2016, p. 3
The Defense Ministry adopted for service radio suppression system Pole-21 that protected Russian strategic objects from enemy cruise missiles, guided bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles using satellite systems GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou for homing.
DEFENSE MINISTRY ADOPTED RADIO SUPPRESSION SYSTEM POLE-21 FOR SERVICE
The Defense Ministry adopted for service radio suppression system Pole-21 that protected Russian strategic objects from enemy cruise missiles, guided bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles using satellite systems GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou for homing. The newest suppression system developed by the research center of electronic countermeasures (NTTS REB) represents radio interference stations R-340RP mounted on cellular communication towers and integrated with transmitting antennas and united into one network that covers entire areas from a dome impermeable for a satellite navigation signal.
Representative of the Defense Ministry familiar with the situation reported:
– Tests of the product are completed now and the system is adopted for service.
Representatives of NTTS REB confirm that work on the system is underway but refuse to comment.
Independent military expert Anton Lavrov, one of the authors of the book entitled Brothers Armed, reported:
– All satellite navigation systems are based on transmission of a simple signal from a satellite, that is why the smallest deviation from the preset frequency even by milliseconds will lead to loss of accuracy. Signal transmission goes in a fairly narrow band that is called “basic frequency.” Modern jammers are aimed exactly at blocking of the basic frequency that it is not very difficult to jam bearing in mind its narrowness in case of presence of a fairly powerful noise interference.
It is necessary to say that all four satellite navigation systems signals of which should be combated by Pole-21 use close frequencies in the interval from 1176.45 to 1575.42 MHz. Capabilities of the newest Russian system to create an impermeable dome of frequencies are manifested by the fact that even a transmitter with power of jut 20 W is sufficient to jam radio signals in this brand in a radius of 80 kilometers.
The principle of work of a space diversity system of radio suppression of satellite navigation systems (official name of Pole-21) is fairly simple. According to the data indicated in topical book “Electronic countermeasures in the Armed Forces) and patent RU 2539563 (database of Rospatent), radio interference stations R-340RP are mounted directly on a cellular communication tower, which guarantees the biggest coverage of the territory. Interestingly, R-340RP not only receives power from the electric grid of the tower but also uses its transceiving antenna of GSM format as a backup control and data transmission channel.
Along with this, the system has one drawback. Its description says that “a drawback of this system is the fact that it creates radio interferences both for the enemy that uses radio navigation system GPS and for domestic consumers of radio navigation system GPS and its Russian counterpart GLONASS.”
General Director of research company Telecom Daily Denis Kuskov says:
– Of course, if we mount our own equipment on the towers we can use infrastructure of the communication operators, for example, their power or their transmitters as backup control channels. But there is the most important issue at this point. The military cannot come to the base stations, they need a permit: for example, the Federal Communication Surveillance Agency will have to make amendments or supplements to the existing normative legal documents.
Representatives of the Federal Communication Surveillance Agency and VimpelCom (Beeline brand) refused to comment. Representatives of MTS reported that they did not know anything about such project. Besides communication operators, cellular towers are also available to infrastructure operators. The three biggest companies of this market in Russia are Russkie Bashni, Link Development and Vertikal. Representatives of these companies abstained from comments.
