Serbia counters drones with AI jamming thanks to new Kobac-1PR system.

Serbia showcased the domestically built Kobac-1PR counter-UAS kit at Partner 2025 and displayed it in the “Power of Unity” parade alongside radars and higher-end EW systems. The system links multiple sensors with automated AI/software detection and modular jammers that target common C2, telemetry, and GNSS bands to shorten detection-to-response time and limit collateral spectrum impact.

At the Partner 2025 exhibition, Serbia presented a new domestic kit for detecting and jamming unmanned aerial systems, designated Kobac-1PR, which was already seen during the “Power of Unity” parade in Belgrade, where it was shown alongside passive sensors (VERA), RPS-42 radars, and higher-end foreign electronic warfare systems such as the Krasukha and Moskva. Within a broader national effort to create a layered defensive architecture, the Kobac-1PR enables the automatic detection, identification, tracking, and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles across a 4 km radius.
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The Kobac-1PR kit combines an MHR radar, radio-reconnaissance sensors, AI/advanced software for automatic detection and classification, and a modular 400–6000 MHz jamming suite (six bands, ~50 W per module) to create a roughly 4 km protective zone with selectable sector or all-azimuth jamming. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The Kobac-1PR system links several sensor types and uses AI algorithms for automatic detection and identification tasks. The system is designed to create a protective zone approximately 4 kilometers in diameter and can be configured to jam either in specific sectors or in all directions, protecting friendly forces. This allows commanders to prioritize coverage or limit emissions. The stated emphasis on automation and multi-sensor connectivity is presented as a way to increase the probability of detection and to shorten the decision loop from detection to active countermeasure application.

The Kobac-1PR kit comprises a radio-reconnaissance set, a reconnaissance radar set, a radio-jamming set, an antenna array, and two operator workstations running dedicated software. The search frequency coverage is stated as 400 MHz to 6000 MHz with frequency resolution finer than 1 kHz, and the brief also lists a “current frequency band” notation of 84, 160, and 200 MHz. The jamming capability is implemented as six modular bands covering 400–470 MHz, 800–1000 MHz, 1164–1610 MHz, 2200–2500 MHz, 3400–3800 MHz, and 4900–5900 MHz. Each module is specified with a transmitting power of roughly 50 W, and the jamming techniques described include sweep, multisweep, external carrier jamming, and deception modes. Those technical parameters indicate the system is built to cover the command and control and many telemetry and navigation bands used by commercial and tactical UAS.

In the parade, Serbia placed the Kobac-1PR in the electronic warfare echelon and linked the kit operationally with units such as the 224th Center for Electronic Action, showing it alongside domestic passive systems like VERA and RPS-42 radars and higher-end foreign-origin systems such as Krasukha and Moskva EW families. Parade coverage also highlighted complementary systems present in Serbia’s inventory or acquisitions, including the Repelent-1 anti-drone system, the RPS-42 soft-defined AESA radar family with quoted detection ranges from small micro-drones out to roughly 25 kilometers for medium-sized UAS, and the Israeli Elbit Hermes 900 ISR drone and PULS multi-caliber rocket launcher shown elsewhere in the parade. Taken together, the demonstrations framed Kobac-1PR as part of a layered detection–classification–countermeasure approach that pairs passive SIGINT, short and medium-range radars, and both low-collateral selective jamming and higher-power area jamming capabilities.

Radio frequency jamming operates by raising the noise floor or by injecting interfering waveforms that disrupt the command and control links, telemetry channels or navigation aids a drone uses, and the immediate operational effects are typically loss of control, degraded video feed, loss of telemetry, corrupted satellite navigation, or activation of the drone’s failsafe behaviour such as return to home or controlled landing. Common RF jamming modes include wideband or barrage noise that affects a broad frequency range, swept narrowband jamming that moves an interferer across frequencies to affect frequency-hopping waveforms, follower or tracking jamming that attempts to lock onto and follow a frequency-hopping link, and selective or protocol-aware jamming that targets specific control or video channels to limit collateral spectrum impact. The Kobac-1PR modular bands and 50 W per module configuration align with these modes because the six-band architecture maps onto common C2 and GNSS frequency ranges and because onboard AI-assisted identification can support selective jamming choices rather than indiscriminate wideband emission.

GNSS denial works by overwhelming the weak satellite signals at the receiver so that position fixes fail or are flagged as invalid, while spoofing attempts to provide counterfeit navigation messages that mislead the receiver with false position or timing. Many commercial UAS use GNSS for guidance and return-to-home logic, which means GNSS denial often forces simple platforms into an automated removal from the battle space, but more capable systems resist GNSS attack using multi-constellation receivers, authenticated signals where available, tightly coupled inertial navigation units, visual odometry, or terrain-referenced navigation. In practical deployments, defenders therefore combine GNSS denial or protection with command and control disruption and with detection that can discriminate hostile intent, because purely denying GNSS without C2 denial may simply produce unpredictable behaviour from platforms that retain alternative links or advanced inertial systems. The Kobac-1PR specification covering navigation bands such as 1164–1610 MHz points to a built-in capacity to affect GNSS frequencies as part of a combined approach.

Fielded jamming solutions are normally networked with passive SIGINT sensors, radars, and command systems so that operators can classify contacts, prioritise threats, and apply graduated countermeasures, and the Serbian demonstrations emphasised that concept by showing Kobac-1PR with radars like RPS-42 and passive systems like VERA and by noting deployment with the 224th Center. Operational tradeoffs include spectrum management and legal constraints because high-power emissions can disrupt civilian services, which encourages sectorised, short-duration, or selective jamming where possible. Mobility, power, and cooling constraints affect whether a kit is more suitable for vehicle-mounted or fixed site roles, and modularity supports both mobile and fixed configurations. Rules of engagement and escalation ladders also affect practical use, since commanders commonly move from detection and classification to non-kinetic selective disruption and reserve wide area denial for massed or imminent attacks.