UKR: How Iran drones use Russian antennas to bypass air defenses

BLUF: An Iranian drone that struck Britain’s Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus was equipped with the same Russian military navigation system that Moscow has used in Ukraine. The Kometa system’s use by Iran shows that Ukrainian EW systems are crucial to defending against Iranian strikes.

The new Bulldog transformer drone from Roboneers has a new concept: it both provides communications and drops munitions.

Swedish investment firm Front Ventures has opened an office in Lviv to strengthen cooperation between defense companies in Sweden and Ukraine.

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The Russian CRPA Kometa-M4 protects navigation systems from jamming and spoofing, Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, development director at the EW developer 'Fly Group', told The Arsenal.

"Russia and Iran have thoroughly analyzed Western defenses in the Middle East. They understood there’s no total EW saturation like there currently is in Ukraine, and so they  deliberately equipped drones to break through the relaxed air defenses," wrote Khrapchynskyi.
According to Western intelligence, Russia is delivering drones to Iran to enhance Iran’s military capabilities and strengthen Tehran’s political regime.

By cooperating with Russia, Iran can leverage the experience of the war against Ukraine to improve its weapons for striking targets in Gulf countries. China has been supplying Russia with CRPAs for Shaheds since at least 2025, so it may be selling them to Iran as well.

CRPA (Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna) is an adaptive antenna array consisting of several elements. Its main feature is software-controlled beamforming. When radio interference is detected, the system automatically adjusts the antenna’s directionality to minimize the hostile impact on satellite navigation. With CRPA, strike drones can bypass standard EW jamming and accurately engage targets. 

Russia uses CRPAs in strike and reconnaissance drones of the Shahed, Gerber, Molniya types, missiles, aircraft, and guided aerial bombs. 

Israel and the U.S. have destroyed approximately 60% of Iran's missile launchers during the first three weeks of their joint operation. At least 17 Iranian aircraft were damaged during Israeli strikes on Tehran's Mehrabad airport on March 7, making the launch of guided aerial bombs unlikely.

Likewise, allies are effectively destroying stationary facilities, so it’s not practical for Iran to use them, Khrapchynskyi explained. 

That leaves Shahed drones as the weapon of choice: No complex launchers are required  — a pickup truck or a catapult with a jet booster will do just fine. 

Since Tehran is relying primarily on Shaheds, the next logical step is to ensure they do as much damage as possible. This is where electronic warfare systems come in. Most commercial drones use simple GNSS antennas that receive satellite signals to determine location.  But electronic warfare systems can jam or spoof these signals, causing the UAV to lose spatial orientation. 

The Kometa system, however, offers a much more sophisticated way to evade EW systems and thus evade air defenses. 

Conventional jamming with “white noise” against Kometa is ineffective unless the electronic warfare source is very close and physically “burns out” the receiver with extremely high power, Yaroslav Filimonov, CEO of Kvertus, a manufacturer of EW systems, told The Arsenal. 

That is precisely why Ukrainians employ more sophisticated methods, such as spoofing (substituting satellite coordinates) and networked systems that simultaneously generate interference from different spatial points, overwhelming the antenna.  

The simplest version of the CRPA "Kometa" has four receivers combined into a single signal processing system, according to an electronic warfare specialist from the 54th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the call sign "Radiy." When the amplitude of the navigation signal power increases due to radio interference, it detects deviations and excludes signals from one of the receivers, while still continuing to use the others.

To suppress such navigation, at least four EW systems installed tens of kilometers apart from each other are needed. The more receivers on the antenna, the more EW systems are required.

Ukraine has constantly increased the number of its EW systems, and Russia, in response, added more receivers to the CRPA. 

This nonstop effort to stay one step ahead with frequent upgrades led to versions of the CRPA with 8, 12, 16, 18, and even 32 receivers. They helped Russia bypass electronic warfare defenses for a time but eventually Ukraine learned to suppress even the largest antennas. 

Now Ukraine has systems that completely suppress satellite navigation in certain areas, said Khrapchynskyi.

It is much easier to increase the effectiveness of CRPA antennas than of systems that jam navigation signals over a large area, said Serhii Herasymiuk, the founder of Antidrone Ukraine, an EW systems developer. 

With the emergence of CRPA systems with more elements, the effectiveness of Ukrainian EW systems has declined each time, forcing them to spend more resources on strengthening their defenses.

Iran could establish its own CRPA production if it builds properly equipped factories and purchases the necessary components. However, in addition to the antenna itself, GPS signal processing systems and autonomous control systems are also needed, said Radiy. This means Tehran is dependent on Moscow for the time being. 

And since Ukraine has already adapted to the four-receiver "Kometa" after years of war, Russia now has a new use for them in the Middle East conflict, where it can sell them to Iran en masse, Radiy said. 

Simple CRPAs will allow more effective attacks on Israel and its allies until they deploy a sufficiently powerful EW network. Over several months, drone attacks could cause a great deal of damage.

When EW systems begin to jam the four-element "Kometa," Iran may switch to 8-element and larger versions, just like Russia did in Ukraine. The only way to prevent this is to create a powerful network of satellite navigation suppression systems that even the best CRPAs cannot bypass. In that case, Iranians may switch to mesh modems, just as the Russians have done. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky is offering the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries Ukrainian interceptor drones, but little attention is being paid to detection systems and electronic warfare systems that affect the accuracy of Shaheds, said Khrapchynskyi. 

The first strikes showed that most American or British military bases are not equipped with EW systems for drone protection. Indeed, there is no developed architecture for countering Shaheds.

Suppressing CRPA requires sophisticated spoofing technologies involving saturation, overload, and gradual navigation takeover, said Herasymiuk. Prior to Ukraine, no one had implemented such defense systems on a large enough scale to repel a massive attack involving hundreds of Shaheds. 

Ukraine can also provide a comprehensive database on the effectiveness of various countermeasures and technologies for deploying electronic warfare networks, which will enable the protection of large areas rather than just individual targets, said Filimonov. 

To effectively combat Shaheds equipped with CRPA, defense forces must combine intelligent electronic warfare systems, acoustic and optical detection networks, kinetic interception assets such as aircraft or helicopters, as well as specialized interceptor drones.

If NATO and Middle Eastern countries import Ukrainian EW systems, they will also need training and maintenance services. Units must be able to work cohesively during enemy attacks — otherwise they risk jamming their own navigation, communication, and drone control systems. 

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Growing global interest in Ukrainian technologies reflects both its production capacity and battlefield experience, which can strengthen allied defense, Anastasiia Mishkina, Executive Director of the association of defense manufacturers Tech Forces of Ukraine, told The Arsenal.

At the same time, uncontrolled exports of Ukrainian weapons by private companies are unacceptable, as bypassing state mechanisms undermines relations with partners and poses risks to national security and the defense industry's reputation, President Zelenskyy said in recent comments.

Regarding the export mechanism, under current legislation, Ukrainian manufacturers intending to export arms and military equipment must undergo an official procedure by submitting the required documents and an application to the State Service of Export Control, which, together with the interagency commission, reviews the request and decides whether to approve or reject it.

According to Mishkina, export policy requires open communication between the state and industry, as well as fast, transparent decision-making. Years of export restrictions have prevented companies from integrating into global supply chains, she added.

In turn, to establish a clearer system, Zelenskyy tasked Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and the General Staff with developing systemic solutions to streamline export processes.

Roboneers has announced a new aerial transformer drone called the Bulldog that can perform several tasks at once. The drone, which can both provide communications and drop munitions, can stay airborne for over an hour and carry up to 10 kg of payload.

The design took into account the military's need for a heavy-duty strike platform that would also be easy to transport, the Roboneers development team told The Arsenal.

The platform uses two communication channels—via Starlink and a backup radio channel. An optical system is used for navigation, allowing the platform to continue operating when GPS is jammed.

According to the Roboneers team, it took about a year to develop the first working prototype. The timeline for mass production depends on the results of field tests and feedback from military units.

The Swedish investment company Front Ventures has opened an office in Lviv. The office will be headed by lawyer Nazar Shestopalov, who will be responsible for procedures requiring legal analysis—such as imports, exports, and government permits.

The goal is to improve cooperation between defense companies in both countries and bolster investment in Ukraine. In 2026, Front Ventures plans to invest in 2–4 Ukrainian defense companies, and negotiations are already underway with two of them, Front Ventures CEO Jonas Malmgren told The Arsenal. 

“We are looking at UGV companies, component providers, and specialized drone/UAV companies. The focus is on companies with a prototype ready and ready to start production or that have completed smaller-scale testing and need to scale up with more capacity,” Malmgren said.

In Europe, and in Sweden in particular, there is high demand for Ukrainian UAVs, interceptor drones, and pilot training programs. Demand is also growing for joint production of drone motors and drone payload collaboration, Malmgren said.

According to him, the aim is to expand via coordinated sales and joint Ukrainian-Swedish production for NATO markets, as well as export back to Ukraine from the Swedish production site if requested. 

Ukrainian drone detection manufacturer Kara Dag Technologies is developing Obriy 1.3C (with an external screen) and Obriy 1.4C (with a built-in display) drone detectors. The devices are capable of detecting FPV drones, DJI Mavic, and some fixed-wing drones.

Both models have the same detection accuracy and speed. However, the version without a built-in display offers greater flexibility. It can be deployed away from a position to avoid detection, and a ‘blackout’ mode allows all LEDs to be turned off, Andrii Poberezhniuk, COO of the company, told The Arsenal. In contrast, the Obriy 1.4C with a built-in screen is designed for more mobile use.

The devices feature a specially developed radio frequency module with additional filtering and protection against EW. At the same time, Poberezhniuk notes that the detectors are not fully resistant to EW but remain operational in most practical scenarios. The system also includes a self-check function that alerts users to any detected issues.

According to Poberezhniuk, the detectors operate across a 1–6 GHz frequency range, making them the first commercially available devices on the market to cover such a wide spectrum. The devices feature metal, water-resistant casings, which improve durability compared to plastic alternatives that are more prone to interference and reduced sensitivity.

By: Oksana Zabolotna

Changes to the Air Defense Pilot Project Involving Private Enterprises

Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine №276 and №290 dated March 2, 2026

Why it’s important: The introduction of clear procedures for transferring and using air defense systems and ammunition allows civilian enterprises to take part in air defense tasks. This expands the operational capacity of Ukraine’s  air defense system by mobilizing additional human and technical resources and allows faster scaling of territorial air defense elements against mass drone attacks.

At the same time, establishing training requirements for UAV operators, sappers, and other specialists helps build a qualified workforce capable of using modern defense technologies. 

Proposals:

Stage: Entered into force on March 6.  

Initiator: The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

What’s next: Implementation of the resolution.

RMachine is a developer of next-generation autonomous unmanned ground systems for defense and high-risk civilian operations. The company designs and builds high-mobility, hybrid-powered UGV platforms, proprietary coordination software, and modular mission systems that enable fleet-based robotic operations across large territories.

According to co-founder Irina Sukhomlyn, the company is currently raising €750,000 to complete certification, conduct full battlefield validation of the MVP, and transition to a pre-serial production sample. The next stage will focus on scaling manufacturing capacity and expanding into EU and NATO-aligned markets.