Previously, Shahed UAVs flew silently, but now they emit signals at the frequencies of the Iridium satellite network.
Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones began to emit mysterious signals while flying over Ukraine. About this on his page in Facebook said Ukrainian serviceman and radio technology specialist Sergei Flash.
Already the third group of Shahe, which the Russians launch from the Bryansk region, is accompanied by signals at frequencies in the range of 1624-1625 MHz. According to Sergey Flash, they can be emitted either by one of the kamikaze drones, or by an unknown UAV accompanying them during the flight.
“This has never happened before. Martyrs have always flown silently,” Sergey Flash said.
Frequencies of signals that accompany Shahed drones
Photo: Facebook
He added that the frequency range corresponds to the signals of “Iridium” (Iridium) – a commercial network of mobile satellite communications. The operator’s headquarters is located in the United States, but it provides services in Russia. In July 2022, the press service of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of the Russian Federation reported that Iridium had been given permission to use frequencies in Russia for another 10 years. As the expert suggested, there may be a modem for satellite communications on board the drone.
“The data transfer rate is low there, you can’t transmit anything big. But the Russians are clearly up to something. I ask all radio intelligence services to pay attention to this,” Sergey Flash wrote. He did not disclose possible applications of the technology, so as not to give clues to the Russians.
The last massive attack of the RF Armed Forces with the help of Shahed drones took place on the night of March 6. The air defense forces of Ukraine reported that they shot down 13 out of 15 enemy UAVs, in particular over the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Earlier, Major of the reserve of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Hetman named the goal of Shahed launches in Ukraine. In his opinion, the Russians have recently been using them not so much for harm as for reconnaissance and detection of air defense systems.
