The Sudanese paramilitary rebel group, Rapid Support Force (RSF), has been using the Groza-S electronic warfare system in its ongoing conflict with the Sudanese Army. This system, developed by Belarus’s KB Radar, is designed to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recently discovered the Groza-S system when they captured a major RSF base north of Khartoum. SAF Commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited the base and inspected a burned-out van with mast-mounted antennas identified as the Groza-S system. The antennas were similar to those seen in photographs released by Belarus’s State Authority for Military Industry in October 2020.
The Groza-S system uses signals intelligence equipment to detect and locate UAVs, an optional electro-optical system to track them, and jammers to block or spoof their communications and satellite navigation signals at ranges of up to 30 km. It can perform various tasks, including automatic search, detection, UAV direction-finding, jamming UAV control channels, and spoofing GPS navigation systems.
The Sudanese Army has been using improvised kamikaze drones, likely based on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) UAVs, against RSF forces. These drones represent an adaptation to the evolving battlefield. Meanwhile, the RSF has its own inventory of unique drones, including a peculiar military VTOL drone armed with mortar rounds, which was shot down by the Sudanese armed forces in June 2023.
Sudan also operates a number of larger UAVs for surveillance and precision strikes, including Iranian-made Mohajer-6, -4, and -2 UAVs, Zagil-3, Ababil-3, and -2 UAVs, and Chinese-made Rainbow CH-3 and -4 UCAVs.
The use of the Groza-S system by the RSF highlights the increasing sophistication of electronic warfare capabilities in the region and the ongoing technological arms race between the warring factions.
On its own part, Sudanese Armed forces are also fielding two Chinese-made anti-drone jammer to fight off unmanned systems operated by the Rapid Support Force (RSF).
One is the SkyFend Hunter C-UAS, and the second, the Ching Kkng anti-drone jammer.
