While the Ukrainian army is rationalizing its limited stocks of anti-aircraft missiles, Kiev is increasingly relying on a homegrown technological solution: the “Lima” electronic warfare system, designed to disrupt and redirect drones and missiles launched by the Russian Federation.
Unlike conventional air defense systems, which destroy targets through kinetic impact, the “Lima” system uses jamming tactics and “spoofing” (misleading) of satellite navigation signals. This approach causes Russian weapons to deviate from their trajectory. The technology has become an essential pillar in Ukraine’s defensive architecture, in the context where Moscow is intensifying its long-range attacks, and Kiev is facing a chronic shortage of costly, classic interceptors, writes politico.eu.
Financial Equation
Developed by Cascade Systems, a Ukrainian military startup registered in the United States, the system generates powerful jamming fields. In the absence of a satellite signal, Russian missiles resort to inertial navigation systems, but their accuracy significantly decreases: the guidance error increases by approximately two kilometers for every 100 kilometers traveled.
“When the Lima system is activated, the missile’s deviation becomes even greater. Besides the simple suppression of navigation, we use spoofing tactics and replace the real coordinates with false ones, offset by several kilometers. We can make their missiles fall on fields instead of hitting their targets”, explained a developer of the system, who uses the call sign “Alchemist” for security reasons, to POLITICO publication. Technically, the system has in the past managed to manipulate the missile guidance systems by transmitting false coordinates suggesting they were in Peru.
The rationale for the widespread adoption of this system is profoundly economic. The production of a single unit costs approximately 3 million hryvnias (about 58,000 euros). According to the builder company’s estimates, protecting a large city requires a network of between 30 and 100 units, which raises the total cost to approximately 5 million euros – the equivalent of the price of a single Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missile.
To date, Cascade Systems has delivered over 400 units. The military began their use in July 2024, and from October 2025 the coverage area was expanded to also protect critical civilian infrastructure. The company claims that, in the last 18 months, the jamming stations have affected the operation of over 20,500 Shahed drones and have deviated dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles that used the Russian GLONASS navigation system.
Details, HERE