The widely promoted Ukrainian Lima electronic warfare (EW) system, which was allegedly capable of disrupting even Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, is now under investigation after authorities found that it failed to meet its declared specifications.

According to the investigation, Lima failed to demonstrate the claimed effectiveness against Geran loitering munitions. Between September 2023 and June 2024, LLC Okhrannoe Agentstvo KASKAD sold EW systems to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and critical infrastructure facilities for more than UAH 820 million, according to a ruling by the Kyiv Court of Appeal.

The cost of installing equipment to protect a single facility ranged from UAH 20 million to UAH 100 million. The systems were guaranteed to provide protection against Geran loitering munitions and Kalibr cruise missiles. It was also claimed that Lima had passed tests conducted by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, demonstrated its effectiveness, and could be integrated with a centralized control point.

However, the investigation found that the reality was very different: Lima had never undergone the claimed tests, had not been used in combat, and the supposed centralized control point did not exist.

Further testing confirmed that Lima was incapable of countering the eight-element Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA) Kometa used on Geran loitering munitions, let alone the 12- and 16-channel CRPA systems now deployed on Russian drones, guided aerial bombs, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.

This leaves us with two possible conclusions: either the Kinzhal’s warhead malfunctioned, or the video was AI-generated. After verification, the CCTV footage appears to be authentic, with no signs of AI generation or manipulation, reinforcing the first possibility, that the warhead simply malfunctioned.