Ukraine is using a network of thousands of mobile phones with attached microphones to detect Russian airstrikes, including Shahed explosive drones, the top US Air Force officer in Europe has said.

The Ukrainian military routinely reports a high number of downed Shahed drones out of the total number launched by the Russians, often over 70-80%.

So far, no details have been provided on how to detect and counter the drones and missiles launched by the Russians, with the Air Force using the standard statement that “aircraft missile units, mobile fire teams and electronic warfare assets of the Air Force and Armed Forces of Ukraine” are used to repel air enemy attacks.

Most recently, the Air Force of Ukraine reported on Wednesday morning that the Russians launched 13 Shahed drones overnight, ten of which were shot down, in three regions of Ukraine.

“They took 8 thousand mobile phones and put them on two-meter poles”

General James B. Hacker, commander of the US Air Force in Europe, recently reported that the Ukrainians “took eight thousand mobile phones and put them on two-meter poles.”

According to him, the phones, which also had microphones attached, were installed at the edge of the country to detect enemy attacks. “To hear the strike drones flying over them,” the general said, noting that such a setup costs just $500.

“They were able to determine their direction, they were able to determine their speed,” he continued.

“And they trained a guy to sit in an AAA (anti-aircraft system) for six hours and look at an iPad that shows him where the drones are coming from,” Hecker said, referring to a recent series of Russian launches in which the Ukrainian identified 84 aerial targets and shot down 80 of them.

How the system works

Acoustic sensors collect unusual sounds from the environment, and then use artificial intelligence to determine whether the anomalies are kamikaze drones or approaching missiles, writes The Telegraph.

“It’s interesting that this technology is making a comeback today because it was all the rage before the invention of radar in the 1920s and 1930s. History, in a sense, comes full circle, but adapted to the technological era we have today,” said Dr. Thomas Whittington, an air defense expert at the Royal Joint Services Institute, referring to acoustic systems used centuries ago to detect aircraft.

Mobile phones are always on to detect approaching aerial targets and use local mobile networks to transmit information to a centralized system.

These systems are funded through the Safe Skies initiative, a program based on President Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s United24 platform, the British publication reported.