“Drones that are equipped with this system are not affected by electronic suppression systems,” an electronic warfare expert said to Zen Novosti earlier this year, in reference to Russia’s Kometa adaptive antenna arrays. That technological advantage meticulously developed by JSC VNIIR-Progress in Cheboksary was a top priority as Ukraine ramped up its campaign to weaken Russia’s military-industrial foundation.
In the early hours of July 5, Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces, in concert with other defense units, struck the heart of Russia’s navigation and electronic warfare production, hitting the JSC VNIIR-Progress facility the main producer of Kometa antenna arrays. The impact was immediate: fires broke out at the site, and Russian officials scrambled to assess the damage. Ukraine’s General Staff verified, “The destruction of the facility by at least two UAVs and a subsequent large-scale fire has been confirmed. The results of the strike are being clarified.”
The Kometa arrays are not just any military hardware. These small, multi-element adaptive antennas are integrated into Russia’s most ominous precision weapons Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles, Iskander-K cruise missiles, and UMPK guidance modules that upgrade “dumb” Soviet bombs to standoff glide munitions. The Kometa’s greatest strength is its resistance to jamming: with four or more antenna elements, it can generate “nulls” that suppress incoming interfering signals, steadying navigation even when Ukrainian electronic warfare units try to blind incoming bombs or drones.
This arms race has unfolded in real time. With more jammers deployed by Ukraine, Russia has countered each time by adding more antenna elements initially four, then eight, twelve, and now even sixteen in the most recently fielded variants. Each iteration enables the Kometa to eliminate more jamming sources, but at increasingly higher size, weight, and complexity. “When the Russians switched to the 8 antenna Kometa-M, the accuracy of their UMPK glide bomb kits and Shaheds was restored,” noted OSINT analyst Roy.
JSC VNIIR-Progress’s output underpins Russia’s entire modern precision strike arsenal. The Kometa arrays are used in the guidance modules of UMPK-equipped glide bombs, which have become a staple of Russian airstrikes. These bombs, such as the recently deployed three-ton FAB-3000, use satellite guidance to glide 70 kilometers from point of release, avoiding Ukrainian air defenses and hitting with terrible impact. The UMPK kits themselves are a masterclass in budget-friendly lethality, converting surplus Soviet bombs into precision munitions for under $20,000 each.
The strategic effect of this attack is two-fold. First, it threatens directly Russia’s capacity to resupply stocks of anti-jam navigation modules, potentially undermining the accuracy and survivability of future drone and missile attacks. Second, it declares Ukraine’s increasing capability for deep, precise strikes not merely on the front, but hundreds of miles behind Russian lines. Recent Ukrainian strikes against the Borisoglebsk air base, hitting aircraft and storage for glide bombs, and pipeline sabotage in the vicinity of Vladivostok, further illustrate this increasing reach.
Russia’s dependence on Shahed-type drones now domestically mass-produced with Chinese and Western components imported to them has continued to increase. These drones, having up to 2,500 kilometers of range and 30–50 kilograms payload, are deployed in waves to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. It is the Kometa’s adaptive power that enables these drones to fly through a jamming and spoofing gauntlet to power each strike with a better chance of finding its mark. As Ukraine’s electronic warfare and counter-drone technologies spread, the pressure on Russia’s supply chains for EW advanced components grows.
The assault on VNIIR-Progress is not merely a strategic victory, but a strike against the complex supply chains that fuel Russia’s war machine. Investigations have led Kometa’s components back to Irish, USA, Japanese, and Taiwanese suppliers, repeatedly transported through India or Hong Kong to bypass sanctions. Breaking this hub could have ripple effects on Russia’s capacity to maintain its electronic warfare and precision strike systems.
As each side struggles to outdo the other in electronic warfare and long-range strike technology, Kometa’s factory destruction represents a major turning point in the battle for domination of the electromagnetic spectrum and the future of precision warfare in Ukraine.
