Ukraine has discovered a way to combat one of Russia's most advanced and feared weapons, the Kinjal hypersonic missile, using jamming, but also, in a creative improvisation, music., reports Interesting Engineering.
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Capable of flying at a speed of Mach 5.7 and launched from modified MiG-31 interceptors, the Kinjal missile can carry a 450 kg warhead over 480 km.
Its high flight speed makes it difficult to intercept even US-made Patriot air defense systems, while Russia frequently launches the missile in weekly barrages against Ukrainian power plants and cities.
The role of music in jamming
Ukrainian forces say their own “Lima” electronic warfare (EW) system successfully interferes with the Kinjal missile's guidance system, according to Trench Art.
Using this system, the Night Watch unit would have jammed or deflected the signals of about a dozen such missiles in the past two weeks, according to operators.
In a symbolic but no less effective gesture, the Night Watch replaced the missile's satellite navigation signal with the Ukrainian patriotic anthem “Our Father is Bandera,” a tribute to World War II nationalist leader Stepan Bandera.
Any non-standard information provided to a satellite-guided munition by spoofing the signal can introduce navigational errors.
Thus, the music helps the unit “counter Russian propaganda” while protecting Ukrainian targets.
Satellite-guided weapons rely on a stable GPS or GLONASS signal to hit accurately.
But when Lima disrupts the connection, the missile's guidance system reverts to an inertial navigation system, which quickly accumulates errors.
The result is that the missiles can miss their targets by tens of meters, maybe more. Recent footage showed a Kinjal missile veering off course and impacting near Starokostiantiniv in western Ukraine.
The Economist, citing former German defense official Nico Lange, reported that the Lima system represents a major leap in Ukraine's electronic warfare capability.
Ukrainian engineers have “created a system capable of jamming Russian aerial bombs” guided, standard munitions that have been converted into precision weapons, it noted.
He believes we could be witnessing a possible “revolution” in the field of electronic warfare, so that Ukraine's capabilities rival or even surpass Russian and Western systems.
Music and improvisation
Unlike traditional electronic warfare (EW) systems that transmit noise to overwhelm signals, Lima uses digital suppression, combining jamming, signal spoofing and cyber attacks to confuse the weapon's navigation system. This multi-level attack aims not only to disrupt signals, but also to mislead.
The system targets the weak point of Russia's precision munitions: their reliance on satellite navigation. Once jammed, weapons switch to inertial guidance, whose measurements become imprecise.
By comparison, US JDAM munitions can deviate from the target by up to 30 meters after 100 seconds without GPS.
Analysts estimate that Russian glide bombs could miss by 50 to 100 meters under Lima's disruptive action.
Even Russian military bloggers have admitted to growing frustration with Ukraine's electronic warfare systems, noting that bombs “lose their ability to accurately correct their flight” and miss their target.
The reported success of the Lima systems highlights how Ukraine is adapting to Russia's missile attack campaign — through innovation rather than firepower parity.
As warfare moves toward electronic and informational dominance, systems like the Lima could prove decisive, rendering Russia's most advanced missiles ineffective at great cost.
