According to head of U.S. Special Operations Command General Raymond Thomas, Russian and Syrian forces are waging electronic warfare on U.S. operations in Syria, a tactic Moscow has been honing as a counter to NATO's dominance in conventional weaponry.
“Right now in Syria we are operating in the most aggressive EW environment on the planet from our adversaries. They are testing us everyday, knocking our communications down, disabling our EC-130s, etcetera,” Gen. Raymond Thomas told an audience of some 2,000 intelligence professionals.
The Lockheed Martin EC-130 Compass Call is one of America’s most advanced electronic warfare weapons. Based on the C-130 Hercules, the plane was developed to disrupt enemy communications, radar and command operations. The craft’s presence in Syrian skies gives Russia the chance to test its weapons against the best the U.S. has to offer, whether directly or through its Syrian allies.
Earlier this month, four anonymous officials told NBC News that Russia has also been regularly targeting smaller U.S. surveillance drones. One of those quoted said Russian operations were having a significant impact on U.S. capabilities. The sophisticated attacks were even successful against encrypted signals and anti-jamming devices, the official said.
In Syria, the Russian military is bringing to bear the lessons learned from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which provided invaluable electronic warfare experience. Throughout the fighting in the east of the country, jammers have been used to disrupt Ukrainian communications and disable surveillance drones. Even Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe drones monitoring the area were affected, grounded by a combination of Russian conventional and electronic weapons.
According to a 2017 report by Roger McDermott of the Estonia-based International Centre for Defence and Security, Moscow invested heavily in electronic warfare in response to NATO’s dominance in conventional weaponry. The operations in Ukraine and Syria have allowed the Russian military to use electronic weapons in combat scenarios, and electronic warfare systems and units have now been introduced at every level of the Russian military.
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Moscow—alongside the other powers fighting in Syria—has been expanding its electronic footprint, gathering information on its own abilities and the responses of its adversaries. With the battlefields of Syria busier than ever, the war offers valuable testing ground for the weapons of tomorrow.
Full story: RUSSIA IS ATTACKING U.S. FORCES WITH ELECTRONIC WEAPONS IN SYRIA EVERY DAY, GENERAL SAYS (Newsweek)
Russia Widens EW War, ‘Disabling’ EC-130s OR AC-130s In Syria (Breaking Defense)