Electronic warfare

Electronic Weapons: Russia Opens Up

In six months (starting in October 2015) Russia put on a live demonstration of its newest weapons and high-tech military gear in Syria and, as expected, the export orders are starting to increase, a lot. One of the less glamorous, but expensive and complex items the Russians showcased in Syria and are now offering for sale are “battle proven” electronic warfare (EW) equipment. This is the stuff developed after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and has been a hard sell until now because Soviet era equipment, although terrific looking and priced to sell never did well in combat against Western, especially American, stuff. That is less the case now as the post 1991 Russians have adopted a lot of Western design concepts and produced much less expensive, and now “combat proven in Syria” substitutes for the Western gear.