Stealth radio hides signal in background noise to protect drone pilots
As drones have risen to prominence on the battlefield, so too has electronic warfare, in which adversaries attempt to mask, jam or trace radio signals. Now, a new stealthy radio device could help give people the edge, letting them fly drones without detection
By David Hambling
15 September 2025
Drones have become a key part of the Russia-Ukraine war
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
A stealthy military radio that hides communications in background noise is extremely difficult to jam or locate, meaning that it could allow drone pilots to operate without detection.
Electronic warfare has entered an intense new phase as drones increasingly dominate the battlefield. In the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, both sides use jammers to block drone-control signals. They also trace radio signals to target enemy drone operators with artillery strikes.
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Now, US-based start-up Rampart Communications has designed a radio with two levels of protection that make the signal extremely hard to detect. Its StrataWave radio encrypts the signal and spreads it across the radio spectrum, rather than broadcasting on a single frequency, making radio emissions quieter and harder to detect.
Similar techniques have been used before, but StrataWave goes an extra step. While spreading the signal across the radio spectrum makes it harder to intercept, it doesn’t hide the fact that a radio broadcast is taking place. To do that, StrataWave scrambles the entire broadcast to hide the very presence of a radio signal in background noise.
The first level of protection is like writing a letter in code and tearing it into large pieces – even if an adversary can’t read your letter, they can at least see you have written one. The second level is more like grinding the letter to dust.
