The Telegram Wrap: Glonass Modules, Orlan ELINT & The Silvus Antenna
There’s no denying that the Russia — Ukraine conflict has been shared in extensive detail on social media. As such, one of the best ways to stay ahead of what’s happening across the front lines of Ukraine is to turn our OSINT skills to social media and analyse social media posts to find out about the conflict.
The Telegram wrap is a recurring piece that looks at interesting pieces of Ukrainian language information that have been posted to Telegram recently. With this, we aim to cover all the latest developments regarding drones and the usage of the radio spectrum.
One thing to remember though. The posts are taken from Telegram and written up without any fact-checking or additional analysis performed, so you’ll need to draw your own conclusions regarding authenticity and credibility.
Reliance on GLONASS appears to be increasing. Source: Telegram
Glonass Modules
We’ve discussed in earlier wraps some of the effects that intensive jamming induces across the front lines, including discussing some of the issues that we can expect when GPS Spoofing and Jamming are introduced to the mix.
This post looks to offset some of these problems by turning to the Russian-designed GLONASS system. The Russian equivalent to Western Global Positioning Systems (GPS). GLONASS, a hangover from the Cold War era Soviet Union, uses additional satellites over the Russian Federation that aim to increase its effectiveness.
It discusses the usage of a GLONASS-developed and launched module for UAV Monitoring and Identification. While there is no word on performance or effectiveness, it does go to show that the mitigation of EW tactics against UAVs is an ongoing battle.
This post on the Orlan UAV looks to be the highlight of the week. Looking forward to seeing the ELINT report. Source: Telegram
More Orlan ELINT
Last week, we took a look at some of the interesting payloads that were being carried by the Russian Orlan (орлан) UAV. This was particularly notable as we observed an interesting, omnidirectional antenna system.
Further to this, we’ve obtained some more pictures regarding this system and the Orlan.
It appears to be a wide-banded system that’s capable of signal direction up to 30Ghz, meaning it can see Patriot, Starlink and plenty of things in between. It also appears the system is primarily capable of detection rather than geolocation, and also mentions it’s capable of “other recon activities” without supplying further info on what exactly those activities might be.
Detailed reports about this system are expected to be available in the coming months. Once it’s posted, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the technical specs of the system, so stay tuned for more info regarding its capabilities.
Silvus Antenna
When you’re dealing with EW, an equipment shortage and have a need to gain and hold the edge, there’s no denying that the correct equipment plays a huge role in the success (or failure) of an operation. And, when you’re dealing with RF, often it’s things like antennas, connectors and other pieces of equipment that make all the difference regarding performance.
This is the Silvus directional antenna. It’s rumoured to be a hot performer and is a popular piece of kit across the front lines, however, it looks to be expensive.
It’s an interesting, phased-array design on a PCB printout, and despite its price, it’s treated as a consumable across the front line. The price is referenced in the post, however, it’s uncertain if the author is referring to Hyrvinias or USD.
The R-170 radio receiver underwent performance testing this week. Source: Telegram
Russian R-170P Reciever
It’s no exaggeration to say that often, Russian equipment is rugged and versatile, by need as much as by design. When you’re dealing with sensitive electrical equipment, this can be both a blessing and a curse.
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This post covers testing of the Russian-designed R-170 receiver. It’s a wideband system commonly used by RU forces for an assortment of tasks. Little information was found on Wikipedia, however, there’s some interesting information included in the post that may help us understand it a little more.
The system is reported as having average performance, which may be due to a limited array of filtering. While sensitivity is reportedly good, it is reportedly very vulnerable to interference, which is a pretty terrible problem to have when you’re in one of the hottest EW zones on the planet.
This incredible still shot of a YAK-52 shows the lengths to which Ukraine will go in the defense of its skies. Source: Telegram
Yak-52 Drone Hunters
Necessity is the mother of invention, which is probably part of the reason we’ve seen Ukraine drag out WW2-era Maxim machine guns to be pressed into service as drone defence platforms.
However, it’s not just old guns that are part of this defence system. We’re seeing fixed-wing designs of all styles being used to maintain sovereignty over Ukrainian skies, and the YAK-52 setup is merely an extension of this.
Allegedly taken from a Russian UAV, it’s a close-up shot that shows the sometimes up-close and personal nature of Ukrainian air defence programs as well as the intensity of the ongoing drone war.
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