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Sudanese Armed Forces finds electronic warfare system at major RSF base

By Jeremy Binnie |

A still from a Sudanese Armed Forces video shows the electronic warfare system that was identified as the Groza-S. (Sudanese Armed Forces)

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) discovered what was identified as a Belarusian-made electronic warfare system when it captured a major Rapid Support Forces (RSF) base north of Khartoum.

The system was seen in a video showing SAF Commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visiting the El-Gaili (Al-Jaili) and Garri (Qarri) areas. The general's helicopter landed outside a gate with a sign that said it was the RSF's Garri Military Base, which satellite imagery shows is located just to the west of the Garri Refinery, north of Khartoum, and is unusually large and sophisticated by Sudanese standards.

Gen Burhan met soldiers at the base before inspecting a burned-out van with mast-mounted antennas that Sudanese sources identified as the Groza-S, an electronic warfare system that Belarus's KB Radar developed to counter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The antennas appeared to be identical to the ones seen in photographs that Belarus's State Authority for Military Industry released in October 2020 to announce that an improved version of the system had already been exported. However, the layout of the operators' station was slightly different.

The Groza-S 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, according to the brochure.

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