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How Ukraine’s Digital Deception Forces Russian Kinzhal Hypersonic Missiles to Disintegrate Midair
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An innovative electronic warfare system named Lima has successfully neutralized 61 Russian Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
The commander of the Night Watch unit, who goes by the call sign Alchemist, shared this information in an interview with Militarnyi on July 6.
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Rather than functioning as a traditional electronic warfare station that merely generates radio noise to jam enemy equipment, the Lima system employs an advanced digital suppression strategy.
According to the manufacturer, this method combines jamming, spoofing, and a targeted informational cyberattack directed at the missile’s navigation receiver.
The system is designed to alter the flight path of Kinzhal missiles or cause them to destroy themselves in midair, according to Alchemist.
"Most of the 61 missiles simply broke apart into pieces under the influence of electronic warfare," he said.
The commander explained that Lima transmits false coordinates and secondary signals that completely disorient the missile’s onboard navigation computer. As a result, the missile attempts to execute evasive maneuvers that are entirely incompatible with its structural limits, leading to its physical disintegration.
Following the midair breakup, the velocity of the remaining debris drops sharply, allowing specialized teams to recover the components with minimal damage. This process has provided Ukrainian experts with fully intact electronic units and hydraulic systems.
The recovery of these materials has enabled Ukrainian specialists to conduct exhaustive research on Russian missiles that were previously classified as highly secretive.
"We were able to start the navigation receiver of the missile and understand that the calculations we put into the 'Wall' project correspond to reality," Alchemist shared.
During testing, researchers also identified specific characteristics regarding the Kometa multichannel digital antenna array used by the missile.
The unit commander noted that when the antennas are oriented sideways rather than upward, the amount of energy required to suppress the system decreases 127 times. According to him, utilizing this specific vulnerability allowed Ukrainian forces to successfully neutralize eight Kinzhal missiles during the initial stage of operations.
Alchemist added that the missiles typically operate at altitudes between 20 and 30 kilometers.
"Kinzhal is simpler than Iskander because its trajectory passes at a low altitude above the ground. Even in the modernized version, it remains predictable," he concluded.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian defense technology company Contra Drone has introduced a multi-layered counter-drone solution that integrates more than 20 defensive technologies, highlighted by an automated mini air defense system capable of identifying, tracking, and engaging FPV drones without requiring continuous operator input.
The centerpiece of the presentation was the Mini Air Defense System, an automated platform developed to counter small aerial threats, including FPV drones, quadcopters, and fixed-wing UAVs traveling at speeds of up to 300 km/h.
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