Orel-BPLA systems were supposed to be the pinnacle of electronic warfare. But now it seems that the Russian army selected non-functional defense systems to guard Crimean Bridge before it was heavily damaged and is still under repair today.
The aerial view of the Crimean Bridge in pre-war times. Image credit: Rosavtodor via Wikimedia, CC BY 4.0
The strike on the Crimean Bridge which was then already occupied by the invading military forces was conducted on October 8th, 2022. The main version from the side of the Russian Federation stated that the attack was performed using a truck loaded with explosives – despite the fact that the entire object was strongly guarded.
Now, additional details emerge detailing the technical side of the attack.
Recently, Russia detained an officer who was in charge of procuring Orel-BPLA electronic warfare systems that were also used to protect the Crimean Bridge. These systems have been designed to detect enemy radars, track incoming UAVs, and jam their radio control channels. There was only one major issue – these defensive platforms were non-operational.
The Orel-BPLA system with a cost of approximately $5.1 million per unit was developed by the Rostov-on-Don Research Institute of Radio Communications and was widely advertised by the local and state media.
However, in 2021, the field tests revealed that the Orel-BPLA “lacks the technical capability of radio suppression of UAVs in certain radio frequencies and even the most common data exchange channels”.
This statement allows for an assumption that Orel-BPLA was not capable of jamming standard Wi-Fi frequencies that are often used to control civilian and military drones. The service of these systems was suspended only a year later.
The article published in Defense Express mentions that two Orel-BPLA platforms were deployed to guard the Crimean Bridge. An undisclosed number of these military products were also distributed among various Russian security services.
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Published on The Digital Insider at https://bit.ly/40wwcxU.
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