Stealth radio hides signal in background noise to protect drone pilots
Drones have become a key element in the Russian-Ukraine war
Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu via Getty Images
A stealthy military radio that hides communications in background noise is extremely difficult to block or locate, which means that it could allow drone pilots to operate without detection.
The electronic war has entered a new intense phase while drones are increasingly dominating the battlefield. In the current war between Russia and Ukraine, the two parties use jammers to block drone control signals. They also retrace radio signals to target enemy drone operators with artillery strikes.
Now, start-up communications based in the United States have designed a radio with two levels of protection that make the signal extremely difficult to detect. Its laminate radio states the signal and spread through the radio spectrum, rather than broadcasting on a single frequency, making radio emissions more silent and more difficult to detect.
Similar techniques have already been used, but Stratawave is an additional step. While dividing the signal through the radio spectrum, it is more difficult to intercept, it does not hide the fact that a radio broadcast takes place. To do this, Stratawave blurs all the broadcast to hide the very presence of a radio signal in the background noise.
The first level of protection is like writing a letter in the code and tearing it into large parts – even if an opponent cannot read your letter, he can at least see that you have written one. The second level more likes to grind the letter to dust.
“Without the encryption key and the correct algorithm, the signal will appear as a noise for any other receiver,” explains Aaron Correa in Rampart.
The company unveiled Stratawave during the Pentagon Technology Readiness Experimation (TREX) event at the Aterbury camp, Indiana, in August. During the event, an operator piloted a drone directly on scrambling systems without suffering from interference.
The manufacturers of the device say that it has achieved more than 60 different shock tests. The counter-ground systems could not detect radio emissions from the drone or operators, and therefore could not locate them.
In theory, Stratawave will allow drone operators to use higher power levels without being detected and targeted, allowing longer -range communications. The Commander of the Typhon Drone Unit of Ukraine, which uses the Michael signal, says that they normally maintain power levels as low as possible to avoid detection.
“As soon as you increase the power of the transmitter – for example, from 1 typical watt to say 5 watts – you are increasing your signal force and your exposure,” explains Michael. “A stronger and more distinctive signal is easier to detect and locate by triangulation.”
Electronic Warfare is a cat and mouse game, each development encountered by a new counter. In Ukraine, drones are updated every few weeks to stay ahead of fogs. Rampart indicates that opponents will actually start from scratch when trying to detect or muddy stratawave.
Thomas Withington, an electronic war expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defense reflection group in the United Kingdom, says it is unlikely that it is the last movement of the game of radios against fogs. “Radiofrequency engineers will tell you that each new system works with it – until it is not,” he said.
WithGington notes that cognitive radio systems using AI and large amounts of data are improving to find hidden signals in noise. But it can take a while to break stratawave. “This type of system will certainly give you a temporary advantage, and that is perhaps everything you need,” he says.
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