January 27, 2024: Ukraine has developed and used a new EW (Electronic Warfare) technique called inflection. This works by transmitting an electronic signal that manipulates, but does not disrupt, the electronic guidance signals used by incoming UAVs and cruise missiles. Ballistic missiles can also be misled by an infliction signal.

This infliction of electronic guidance signals means all the incoming missiles and UAVs are diverted to a different altitude and location in unison and subsequently detonate in the air. The guidance systems of the inflected missiles and UAVs will still believe they have all hit their intended targets. So far in 2024 inflection has been used several times and the Russians are working on a countermeasure. Until they come up with one, their attacks fail whenever used against an area where Ukraine has deployed equipment which transmits inflection signals.

This electronic equipment is compact enough to be carried in the back of a pickup truck. That means these vehicles have become prime targets for Russian forces. That’s not as ominous as it sounds because the Russians have been trying to find and destroy the 39 HIMARS missile launching vehicles since 2022 and have failed. Then again, the inflection vehicles must halt and transmit their inflection signals while the HIMARS trucks were constantly on the move and transmitted no easily detectable electronic signal.

Ukraine has long been a major developer and manufacturer of weapons and military equipment. Before 1991, when Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was a Soviet center for high tech weapons development and production, and these innovation and manufacturing capabilities were recognized and encouraged. Since independence in 1991 Ukraine has continued to encourage its defense firms to continue their work. This has resulted in several new weapons and upgrades for existing systems. One new weapon is a long range, nearly 200 kilometers, high-speed missile with a guidance and targeting system that can get past Russian electronic jamming and air-defense missile systems. The new missile was revealed as the mystery weapon used to destroy a Russian S-400 SAM (surface-to air missile) battery. This was not the first new Ukrainian missile design to be used against Russia. The new missile, like many new Ukrainian weapons, doesn’t have an official name or details of its specifications and capabilities. That is normal for a weapon developed during a war and not seeking export sales. That will happen once the war is over, and Ukraine offers its combat-tested new weapons to export customers.