Ukrainian private company Infozahyst Research and Production Center has started to prepare for performance tests of their UAV-based electronic intelligence system named Gekata, said the enterprise's CEO Yaroslav Kalinin in an exclusive comment to Defense Express.
"We continue working on Ukraine's first ELINT system Gekata on the basis of the PD-2 UAV made by Ukrspecsystems. As of today, the company has procured and already received the aircraft; at the facility, we have created a specialized department with personnel responsible for working on the aviation component, and also we have made preparatory work preceding the integration of ELINT payload into the UAV," Kalinin said.
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Infozahyst's CEO estimates that all the necessary tests for real combat application will be completed by the end of this year.
He also adds that his company in cooperation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine is working on creating a data bank of signals used by russian main radar systems most commonly used on the battlefield.
"It will help Gekata to effectively locate enemy positions and transmit the information to fire support units."
The Gekata ELINT system
This reconnaissance system was developed by Infozahyst specifically to be carried by the PD-2 dual-use unmanned aerial vehicle in cooperation with drone maker Ukrspecsystems. It is declared to be capable of locating and identifying on-ground radiation emitters 450 km away from the drone. One system can have up to four drones in the air that can provide round-the-clock surveillance over a frontline of 100 km.
The system itself is a payload of 10 kg weight that is integrated into a modular UAV, it can be either classic catapult/runway launched or equipped with VTOL capability.
For the first time, the Gekata was presented during the "Arms and Security" expo in 2021. Later that year, the UAV equipped with Gekata performed its first flight, followed by the second flight test on the 18th of February, 2022. The objective was to find out critical operating parameters: g-force during takeoff and landing, vibrations, impact of altitude, etc.
Infozahyst says the gathered data helped to improve the system to ensure its reliability in rough conditions and during the adaptation of electronics for operating up in the air.
"The changes touched the antenna system which got better at detecting electromagnetic radiation in the 360° field of view. Now its outer looks take into account the fuselage's aerodynamics and it keeps delicate sensors protected from weathering," Kalinin noted.
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