The war of signals: How Russia and China help Iran see the battlefield

"Russia has received Iranian drones and munitions for its war in Ukraine. It has watched the US supply Ukraine with targeting intelligence used to strike Russian positions, including, reportedly, locations near Putin's residences. Moscow's calculus is not hard to read. Intelligence is a currency. Putin is simply spending it. As former CIA officer Bruce Riedel once observed, in modern warfare, coordinates are often more valuable than bullets."

"Russia's intelligence pipeline has allowed Iran to locate US and Israeli assets with a precision Tehran could not achieve alone. Iran operates only a limited constellation of military reconnaissance satellites wholly insufficient for tracking fast-moving naval assets across open water. Russia does not share that limitation. Its advanced overhead surveillance network, including the Kanopus-V satellite re-designated Khayyam upon transfer to Iranian operational use, provides Tehran with round-the-clock optical and radar imagery."

Russia is supplying Iran with sensitive intelligence about US warship and aircraft locations in the Middle East, marking a shift from traditional warfare to electromagnetic spectrum conflict. This intelligence-sharing arrangement leverages Russia's advanced satellite surveillance capabilities, particularly the Khayyam satellite, to compensate for Iran's limited reconnaissance capacity. Russia views intelligence as currency in its broader strategic competition with the US, particularly following American support for Ukraine with targeting intelligence. Iran's ability to precisely locate US and Israeli military assets represents a significant tactical advantage previously impossible with Tehran's limited satellite constellation. This new form of warfare operates without traditional front lines, fought through radar beams, satellite feeds, and encrypted coordinates rather than conventional weapons.

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