Russian Navy Deploys Makeshift GPS Jammers To Warship For St. Petersburg Parade

Flag Russia The Russian Navy appears to have heightened concerns that its annual Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg may be attacked by drones. The parade takes place on July 30 and traditionally included a large selection of warships and submarines, including visiting nuclear subs. However this year it is already scaled back.

Photographs shared on Russian social media appear to show a GPS jammer aboard a Russian warship in the city. The Project 22800 Karakurt class corvette Sovetsk (577) was photographed on July 14. It is seen equipped with three vertical antennas on temporary mounts. These match elements of the Pole-21 electronic warfare (EW) system.

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Uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) have already been used to attack targets deep inside Russia including the Kremlin on May 3 2023. Many of these drones are likely launched by Russian partisans from within Russian territory. In this sense St. Petersburg is within reach.

According to Russian state media Izvestia, Pole-21 is capable of protecting strategically important sites from cruise missiles, guided bombs, and drones . The radio suppression can jam a variety of satellite channels including GPS, Galileo and Beidou. It is also rumored to have some effect against Starlink. Details in public sources should be taken with a pinch of salt, but there is no doubt that Russian EW systems are capable.

Pole-21 has a reported range of about 20 km. This will add to other EW systems already jamming GPS throughout the city.

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