Ukrzaliznytsia has received, free of charge, the ‘Shatro Anti-Mesh’ electronic warfare systems designed to protect rolling stock and critical infrastructure facilities from drones controlled via mesh networks.
This was announced on August 31 by the system’s developer. ‘Shatro Anti-Mesh’ is a development by the Ukrainian company UNWAVE, which specializes in the full-cycle production of EW and electronic intelligence systems. The system consists of a set of 14 EW modules in a car-top box, covering a frequency range from 320 MHz to 5850 MHz.
The problem the new equipment is meant to address is the Russian transition to controlling long-range drones via mesh networks. According to the adviser to the Minister of Defense and radio technology specialist Serhii ‘Flash’ Beskrestnov, Chinese mesh modems on Shaheds and Gerbers operate in the 1300–1500 MHz range with an output power of up to 20 W and provide communication at ranges of 100 kilometers or more.
Each such modem simultaneously acts as a relay: if some of the drones in the network are shot down, the information is not lost but is routed through other channels. According to the expert’s assessment, the channel speed is sufficient to transmit optimized 4K video with latency low enough to control the drone essentially like an FPV aircraft.
That is precisely why, Flash noted, point EW systems against such drones are largely ineffective: to disrupt a mesh network, it is necessary to create a suppression zone that covers its key nodes.
