It’s been another busy week on Telegram, and plenty of goodies were found.
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With the results of the US election out in the wild, many have chosen to leave Twitter for greener pastures. Or should that be, Bluer Skies? In the past fortnight, Bluesky Social has faced rapid growth, nearly doubling its user base outright. This has led to a few glitches in the matrix, as large accounts have migrated, with many losing followings and rebuilding them in the new place.
So, for the past fortnight, social media has been a little more disjointed than usual. Despite this though, there’s still plenty of news to talk about this week. The biggest news of the past few days has been the test launch of an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) by Russian Forces.
The weapon used a blank, MIRV warhead to strike the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Source: Telegram

IRBM Launch on Ukriane

The most heated news of the week would come after Russian forces launched a ballistic missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Originally claimed to be an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) the weapon was later revised to be an IRBM type system instead.
While these are a shorter-ranged system, they still rely on a ballistic flightpath and have the capability to be fitted with Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle systems on the weapon. This means that decoys and multiple nuclear weapons are able to be carried.
Based on the Russian RS-26 design, the weapon was fired with no nuclear warheads fitted (inert). However, it was fitted with its MIRV re-entry system, meaning that its re-entry was highly visible. Its launch was claimed to be in retaliation for the Ukrainian MGM-140 ATACMS strike earlier in the week.
There’s no doubt that this was an attempt to send a strong message, however, the reality is that like old Russian tanks, Russian nuclear threats are also wheeled out every other day.
Despite many of these things being claimed to be “red lines” the reality is that Ukraine continues to punish Russia with long-range missile strikes, with the Russian air-defense systems currently able to do little to stop them.

Dzyga Drone Detector

A prototype system, the Dzyga is an FPV drone detection system that relies on the detection of video feeds to alert the operator when enemy drones are in the vicinity.
Coming in two different designs, one is a handheld system designed to be used portable along the front line. The second provides provision for external sensors.
It does note that the unit may detect false positives in built-up areas however along the front lines this isn’t an issue. It’s also noted that due to low rates of production, cost is still an issue and the benefits of serial production have not yet been reached. Still, it’s an interesting look at some of the many systems that have been tested as counters to the current drone problem.

AES-256 Eavesdropping

With EW techniques and tools being used at scale across the front line, it comes as no surprise to learn that communications interception and SIGINT are also being used.
This post acknowledges the fact that on occasion, AES-256 encrypted systems are intermittently being breached.
It makes a valid point in that it appears most breaches are smaller in scale and while AES-256 is typically strong, human error can allow the opportunity to intercept communications in certain circumstances. As always, OPSEC on both sides of the front line is an ongoing concern.

Jammer Hackathon

Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 there’s been rapid evolution in prototypes and design in many different fields. Not only has this covered drone-based systems but it’s also covered detection equipment and other electronic warfare systems. This post announces the launch of a new, sponsored hackathon focusing on the development of strategies for dealing with drone-based systems.
With a $100,000 prize pool, the pool of eligible entrants is vast as is the scope of the hackathon. The scope includes ways of detecting, jamming and defeating commercial systems like the DJI platforms as well as automating FPV systems, making them more resilient to electronic warfare techniques.
Interestingly enough, the announcement also covers the development and testing of cyber-based strategies as an option for drone defence as well. While most early designs focus on hardware-based systems for drone defence there’s strong merit in having software-based systems as well.
It’s fair to say that there’s going to be cutting-edge research regarding the offensive use of drone technology coming out of Ukraine for some time to come.
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