Ukraine has a network of about 9,500 smartphone-based acoustic sensors across the country that locate Russian drones and send information to air defense.
The concept, called «Sky Fortress», was developed by two Ukrainian engineers who placed a cell phone with microphones at two meters high to listen to the one-way UAVs, said Gen. James Hecker, commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, at the Royal International Air Tattoo on July 20.
«They have deployed about 9,500 of these in their country and now they get very accurate information that is analyzed in a central computer and sent to mobile teams. And on the iPad, they get the flight path of these UAVs that are coming in, and they [the groups] have a triple cannon, and a person with six hours of training can shoot them down,» says Hecker.
According to the general, in one of the spring attacks by «Shahedin» out of 84 drones, the military managed to shoot down all but four of them thanks to this system. Ukrainian experts were invited to Germany to demonstrate the technology at the Ramstein air base. Other countries are considering the use of acoustic sensors — Romania recently demonstrated a similar system.
Each such sensor costs between $400 and $500 (the price of a smartphone) — the entire network costs less than a pair of Patriot air defense missiles. Hecker believes that the US and its allies should look for their own ways to drastically reduce operational military costs. In April, the United States spent millions of dollars worth of missiles to destroy $30,000 drones launched at Israel from Iran and Iranian proxies.
«That’s why I challenge industry, I challenge NATO aviation leaders to come up with cheaper, more creative solutions. …Likewise, we need to develop equipment in NATO to put Russia on the wrong side of the cost curve if we have an Article Five situation».
«What we’re seeing from the Russians is an increase in the use of ballistic missiles, and that’s primarily because North Korea is providing them with ballistic missiles, and that’s obviously a concern for us, but we’re making sure that we arm Ukraine so that they can deal with that threat».
The general also characterized Ukraine’s prospects at the front. According to him, at the beginning of the year, Ukrainian troops did have a shortage of munitions, but recent deliveries have made the situation «more encouraging».
Source: DefenceOne
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