Russia may use lunchbox-size mesh repeaters to evade Ukraine air defenses A drone expert says Russia may be hiding small signal repeaters in Ukrainian cities to extend drone range and evade jamming, as Ukraine confirms mesh networking is already in use. Russia may be hiding lunchbox-size signal repeaters inside Ukrainian cities to help its long-range drones evade air defenses and strike with greater precision, a weapons expert told Fox News Digital. Mesh Networks Shield Russian DronesCameron Chell, CEO and co-founder of Draganfly, said the small ground devices form part of an expanding mesh network that lets Russian drones relay encrypted signals across multiple connections, making them far harder for Ukraine to disrupt through standard electronic jamming. Mesh networks, Chell explained, allow drones and strategically placed ground-based repeaters to relay encrypted signals across multiple connections, making many Russian drone flights harder to disrupt.The use of mesh networking is now making it increasingly hard for a defensive position to bring down Russian drones in an effective manner, Chell said. On Oct. 3, Serhii Beskrestnov, a defense technology adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, also warned that Russian forces may have hidden the small signal boosters, or repeaters, in Ukrainian cities. Such repeaters are difficult to find, but we must search for them, Beskrestnov warned.As long as they exist, shielding the city with electronic warfare will not be effective. Specifically, the repeaters are small concealed radio relay devices that receive and retransmit signals, extending the range of drone operators while helping maintain control in areas where direct communications or GPS signals may be disrupted. The size of these repeaters is really about the size of a large lunchbox, Chell said.Hidden Repeaters Defeat Electronic JammingThey are very easy to conceal, and they do not have to be turned on all the time, so they are hard to detect electronically. Tracking data reportedly showed no relay drones airborne during a strike, fueling concerns that hidden ground-based repeaters may have been used to maintain communications with the attacking drone.They will be doing everything they can to move as many of these things not just into Kyiv, but at any location in the country, even operational battlefields, Chell said. The reality is every time you put another node on a mesh network, you exponentially increase the efficiency, resiliency, and capability of that network.Russia has come to the realization that innovation is going to have to win this war, to the point now where they are becoming the innovative leader in this war, not just in terms of tactics, strategy, and technology, but the entire mindset is shifting, Chell said. With real-time precision, Russia can also now take their drone device into a particular window, Chell warned.Russia Expands Drone Network InnovationYou can take the device onto a particular portion of a bridge because you can make that real-time, last-minute decision live. You have got all these additional network connections that increase not just your bandwidth, but also your resilience in terms of being jammed, he added. Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat confirmed Sept. 29 that Russian forces are integrating mesh networking into their drone fleet while upgrading onboard optics.The enemy is using high-quality materials in its UAVs and increasing camera resolution, allowing the enemy to view the situation on the ground in detail and use these UAVs for various targets, Ihnat said, according to Ukrainska Pravda. And the use of mesh networks is indeed present. Of course, this is quite dangerous, Ihnat said.They are using the principles of mesh networking to combat the counter-drone measures taken by Ukraine to ensure that drones cannot get through or that those Russian communication links are broken, Chell said. If Russia had multiple nodes that could communicate with a device and could use the device to communicate with other devices swarming the area, Ukraine would be faced with multiple, maybe even hundreds of connections to have to break simultaneously in order to bring that drone down, he said.Zelenskyy Warns Of Rising Strike ThreatsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sept. 28 that while Ukraine intercepts about 70% of conventional Russian drones during mass attacks, interception rates fall to 57% against other types. Moscow issued diplomatic notices for the region, urging foreign nationals and embassy staff to leave the capital Kyiv immediately on Oct. 3, highlighting mortal danger as Russian forces threatened further massive retaliatory strikes.It is obvious that the Russians are not preparing to stop the war, at least not at the moment, Zelenskyy said.