Eduard Vainu, the development manager of Estonian drone manufacturer Meridein Group, said that even if all possible methods are used together, not every drone can be spotted and identified, writes ERR News.
The events of recent days, when one drone crashed in the Russian part of Lake Peipsi, and the remains of another and the resulting crater were later found in a field near Tartu, call for increased attention to the issue of protection from drones. Vainu described the methods used by Russia against drones on the television program Terevisioon, one of which is a conditional digital wall that provides GPS receivers with information that north is 90 degrees further north than it actually is. “And why redirect them over their own territory if they can redirect them toward us,” the expert said.
Vainu acknowledged that Russia’s electronic jamming capabilities are still among the best in the world. He said it can be compared to a game of cat and mouse, where the main task of a drone manufacturer is to create a device that can withstand as much as possible and fly as far as possible, while remaining invisible and accurate. Meanwhile, the other side must create systems that can detect the drone, determine whether it is its own or an enemy, and then shoot it down either electronically or physically.
Despite the drone reaching far enough into Estonia, Vainu believes that Estonia’s air surveillance capabilities are strong, and added that it is not correct to assume that the Estonians do not see anything and that this is the end of it. He noted that this is a complex case, since low-flying drones, which leave a small footprint on radar readings, are difficult to detect.
“You can never really prepare too well.
And this applies especially to air security and drones. Because there are multiple layers. There’s visual observation, either with sensors or by people. Acoustic sensors, electronic intelligence, signals intelligence. All kinds of tools are used and integrated. And even then, you may not reach 100 percent. There is no silver bullet here,” said Vainu.
Security expert Ilmaar Raag pointed out on the program Vikerhommik that Estonians already have the same technology that is used in Ukraine, but it has not been put into practice yet. When asked why the Skyfortress drone radar system is not yet used, Raag replied that the amount of work is very large. Raag said that the current order of priorities is to respond first to the most dangerous, not the most probable, threats. This is logical, but it should be taken into account that the most dangerous threats do not currently have the highest level of probability. For example, large-scale military action in Estonia is currently unlikely. Hybrid attacks are much more likely – incidents that could include explosions that, in the worst case, will result in fatalities.
Raag said that just by pointing to a crater in the Estonian countryside, one could say that nothing bad has happened, but the problem lies in the fact that drones are used not only for warfare, but also for organized crime and smuggling. Therefore, in any case, it is necessary to improve the detection capabilities of drones, the expert noted.
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