The Ukrainian Armed Forces face some problems when using electronic warfare. For example, electronic warfare against FPV drones interferes with tank communications.
About this writes Serhiy Flesh (Beskrestnov), a specialist and consultant in the field of military radio technologies.
Tank communication
“Many years ago, we abandoned the 27-76MHz band in heavy equipment, and now communications on tanks operate in the 136-174MHz band,” says Flesh.
But EW against FPV operates in other bands that do not coincide with tank communications. Therefore, the cause of the problems is not a direct interference with the radio station’s receiving range, but very powerful signals from several EW antennas that add up to the radio station’s antenna and completely “deafen” the receiving path.
“Have you ever seen an LED light up next to an EW? Imagine that instead of an LED, the same energy goes inside the radio station,” the expert says.
What is the solution?
In this case, you can’t reduce the power to the EW. You can’t shield some antennas from others either. And you can’t play around with the pattern. The tank is rotating, and the tankers risk being left without communication or without protection from EW.
A very narrow filter on the receiving path may help, but a tank radio is not a repeater. You need to ensure operability in the entire VHF range. You can try adding a 136-174 MHz filter to the input.
“There is only one solution – to move the EW antennas as far as possible from the communication antennas. It may be necessary to abandon the antenna in its regular place and pull the cable with the magnetic antenna to the stern of the tank,” the expert points out.
Cheap EW modules
Another problem is cheap EW modules without circulators. This is a part inside the unit in front of the antenna. It protects the EW from breakage, increases the service life, and reduces interference to your radio communication.
“Just ask the manufacturer if there are circulators inside the interference modules, but I’m afraid 95% of manufacturers don’t know what they are :-)),” adds Flesh.
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