Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been using the Himera G1 handheld radio on the frontlines for a while already, and now its manufacturer, the Ukrainian-based HIMERA company is testing a new product that will help specially for UAV operators.
In an interview hosted by Espreso TV, the company's representative Oleksii Oliinyk told Defense Express about their new development. Basically, it's a military-grade modem implementing the FHSS technology and composed entirely of components available on the commercial market. Oliinyk stressed that this will make the modem cheap and easy to produce in "tens, hundreds, hundreds of thousands a month."
Read more: Ukrainian Troops Demonstrate Improved Tactics of Using Tanks, IFVs, APCs on Battlefield (Video)
The modem is designed to relay signals, it can be attached to a drone loitering above the ground or any kind of mast to elevate it above the surface.
"The idea of this modem is that the pilot operating a copter can stay in a place no one will know about – hundreds of [meters] or even kilometers away from the spot that the drone is receiving commands from," HIMERA representative told us.
The modem can effectively work even under conditions of enemy electronic warfare, the company says. This device will be especially useful for FPV drone operators – small primitive UAVs with explosives attached – because the relay function will increase the operational range of these explosive drones while keeping the pilots safe from detection by enemy signal intelligence systems.
"It [the modem] is very difficult to jam and to detect in the electromagnetic spectrum. It actually can stay quite far from the pilots, so this way we protect them as well; they are working practically 'invisibly'," Oliinyk explained.
A note for reference, apart from developing new communication devices, HIMERA is also busy with supplying the Ukrainian Defense Forces with encrypted military radios purposed for tactical communication on the "platoon to squad" level.
Read more: New russian Portable Peroed Anti-UAV Jammers "Cannot Guarantee 100% Effectiveness" Against FPV Drones
