Recently, Russia announced that it will equip its military with the latest "Magnetic Field-21" electronic jamming system to counter the United States' leading GPS global positioning system. According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia on the 25th, this system is designed to defend against enemy precision-guided weapon attacks using the GPS navigation system, especially against cruise missiles, guided bombs and drones.
The "Magnetic Field-21" system was developed by the Russian Electronic Countermeasures Technology Center. Through the R-340 RP radio jammer and transmitting antenna network, it can cover an area with a radius of up to 80 kilometers and effectively interfere with GPS signals in the frequency range of 1176.45 MHz and 1575.42 MHz. This new type of jamming equipment is installed on a cellular communication tower, which is convenient for power supply and can use the antenna of the communication tower as a backup control channel and data transmission.
Experts pointed out that the introduction of "Magnetic Field-21" is not only a technical innovation, but also an important measure for Russia to counter the US GPS advantage on the modern battlefield. Russian independent military expert Lavrov said that the system's full-band jamming capability means that even a small frequency deviation is enough to weaken or even completely invalidate the accuracy of GPS navigation, providing the Russian army with a strong defense and countermeasure capability.
Historically, Russia has been developing and upgrading its jamming technology for the GPS system. During the Iraq War, the jamming equipment provided by Russia had a certain impact on the GPS-guided weapons used by the US military, demonstrating its strength and technological advantages in the field of electronic warfare. In recent years, with the intensification of global military and technological competition, more and more countries have begun to pay attention to and study solutions for GPS jamming to cope with possible electronic warfare challenges.
However, for the United States, facing Russia's new generation of GPS jamming technology and military GPS jammers, it is also accelerating the development of the third-generation GPS system and studying backup means to ensure the reliability of navigation and weapon systems. The deployment plan for the third-generation GPS satellite includes enhanced M-code technology, which improves the ability to counter jamming. In addition, the US Department of Defense is actively studying the use of low-cost inertial navigation technology as an alternative to GPS, and applying electromagnetic shielding, spread spectrum and anti-interference filtering technology on the receiver side to meet the challenges of modern electronic warfare.
The United States is also currently researching and developing more complex GPS interference countermeasures, such as adding GPS interference seeking functions to GPS-guided weapons to counter the effects of enemy interference equipment. These measures show the United States' firm determination and technical strength in maintaining its global navigation advantage.
In general, with the continuous advancement of technology and the development of military applications, the stability and security of the global navigation system face new challenges and opportunities. In the future, the international community is expected to strengthen cooperation to jointly respond to the various challenges brought by electronic warfare and ensure the effective operation and security of the global navigation system in various environments.