The Russian Ministry of Defence announced on November 9 that the first of three Ilyushin Il-22PP Porubschik (Lumberjack) stand-off jammer aircraft ordered by the Russian Air Force has been delivered. The Il-22PP was ordered in 2009 and completed its state trials in late 2014. Based on an Il-18 Coot four-engine turboprop airframe built in the mid-1970s, the Il-22PP carries advanced jammers reportedly powerful enough to jam an E-3 Sentry’s APY-1 radar.
Russian press reports state the aircraft’s electronic warfare systems will be transferred to a more advanced jet – possibly the Tupolev Tu-214 – capable of operating at higher altitudes in the future.
The Il-22PP reportedly differs from earlier stand-off jammer aircraft because its active jammers are part of an integrated system with passive radar detectors that uses a computerised control interface to generate an effective jamming program without interfering with friendly radars.
The system is designed by the Myashitsev Design Bureau and built by the Radio- Electronic Technologies Corporation.
Russia’s continued investment in electronic warfare capabilities such as aircraft active jamming, which the West de-emphasised since the end of the Cold War, has gained a high profile since its use in Ukraine in 2014. David C Isby
