The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that control of the electromagnetic environment is central to modern air and ground operations. Mobile air-defence systems, surveillance radars and airborne emitters shape the battlespace long before weapons are launched. For commanders, the ability to detect, classify and locate these emitters at operational depth can determine whether reconnaissance UAVs, strike systems and air assets can be employed effectively.
Developed by company INFOZAHYST, Arhont-TB is an aerostat-based passive ELINT system designed to provide long-range detection, analysis, classification and geolocation of radar emissions. The system has already been employed in battlefield conditions, delivering valuable intelligence on enemy radar and air-defence assets and performing localisation of their positions.
The Electromagnetic Battlefield
The operational requirements for the Arhont-TB system were directly shaped by the realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian offensive operations have relied heavily on air power, supported by dense, multi-echelon air-defence systems at considerable depths from the front line.
As the contested zone expands and the depth of the battlespace increases, commanders require intelligence solutions that can look deeper beyond the immediate line of contact. Systems such as Tor, Buk, Pantsir, Osa, S-300 and S-400 create a complex and dangerous environment. Highly mobile radar and air-defence systems must be detected, classified and localised in a timely manner if forces are to gain an advantage during offensive and defensive operations.
Space-based ELINT systems can provide valuable wide-area intelligence, but its practical availability over a specific tactical area may be shaped by orbital geometry, revisit cycles, tasking priorities and data-delivery latency. Arhont-TB was designed to address this requirement providing persistent, elevated ELINT coverage over a dedicated area and helping commanders detect enemy air-defence assets at operational depth.
Elevated Passive ELINT
Arhont-TB represents the latest generation of the Arhont ELINT family. Building on operational experience gained with its land-based counterparts — including Arhont-A, Arhont-B, Arhont-TA and Arhont-C (the trailer-mounted version with an automatic mast) — Arhont-TB further expands the performance and detection capabilities by placing ELINT sensors on tethered aerostats.
Elevation is the system’s core advantage. By lifting the sensor 500 meters above ground level, Arhont-TB sugnificantly extends the radio horizon and improves the probability of detecting emitters that may otherwise be masked by terrain, distance or the curvature of the Earth.
Because Arhont-TB operates passively, it receives and analyses emissions already produced by radar and other radio-electronic systems. This reducing the risk of exposing system to the adversary EM intelligence.
From Detection to Geolocation
Drawing on an extensive, field-informed database of radar signal signatures observed in the battlespace, Arhont-TB can identify not only the type of emitter, but also its operating mode. In practical terms, this allows operators to assess the likely phase of an enemy mission before it fully develops.
For example, when an airborne radar, such as one carried by an interceptor aircraft like the MiG-31, transitions from wide-area search to target acquisition, tracking or engagement-support mode, its pulse signature changes. These changes may be reflected in parameters such as pulse-repetition interval / pulse-repetition frequency, pulse width, modulation type, carrier-frequency behaviour, frequency-agility pattern, scan pattern, dwell time and pulse-train structure. By registering these changes, Arhont-TB can provide early warning that an enemy asset has moved from routine surveillance to a more threatening operational mode.
This mode-recognition capability is part of a broader ELINT function. Arhont-TB is more than a radar-warning or ESM capability: it is designed to receive, detect, analyse and classify radar signals, monitor the electromagnetic spectrum, identify radio-electronic systems, and collect and update data on sources of pulsed radio emissions.
A key part of the system’s value is geolocation. Arhont-TB uses the Time Difference of Arrival, or TDoA, method to determine the position of pulsed radio emitters when integrated into a direction-finding network.
This is particularly important in a battlespace where air-defence radars and airborne emitters are mobile, intermittent and deliberately concealed. By detecting, classifying and locating hostile emitters — and by recognising changes in their operating modes — Arhont-TB can contribute to a wider operational picture of where relevant enemy systems are active, how their positions change, and what type of threat they may represent.
Wideband Coverage
The system operates across a frequency range of 0.5–18 GHz, covering a broad segment of radar and radio-electronic activity relevant to modern military operations. Its automatic pulse-signal parameter measurement capability reaches up to 17.5 GHz in search mode, while analysis mode provides a bandwidth of not less than 400 MHz.
Arhont-TB can detect land-based radars at ranges of up to 100 km and airborne radars at ranges of up to 400 km. The standard system configuration includes four active ELINT sensors placed on balloons and two reserve sensors, with a crew of up to 12 personnel for the complete system.
Battle-Proven Awareness from Above
Arhont-TB adds an elevated passive layer to the electromagnetic intelligence picture. Its battlefield use has demonstrated the practical value of aerostat-based ELINT for detecting enemy emitters, supporting geolocation and providing commanders with timely information on hostile radar and air-defence activity.
For forces operating under persistent air and missile threat, the ability to detect hostile emitters earlier and at greater depth can be decisive. By combining battlefield experience, aerostat-based persistence, wideband ELINT reception, automatic signal analysis and TDoA-based geolocation, Arhont-TB offers a practical response to one of the defining challenges of modern warfare: understanding the electromagnetic battlefield before the enemy can exploit it.
