Location Tracking on the Battlefield

Mobile networks have played a key role in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. One question that has arisen many times in the war is the tracking of mobile phones - whether it is happening, how it could be done, and the impact this could have. Tracking of mobile phones has already been implicated in multiple incidents in the war, including the 2022 New Year’s Eve Ukrainian strike on a Russian barracks in Makiivka. However, many of the discussions of these events occur without a full understanding of what is possible and practical. This paper is the first to go into depth on the numerous ways that mobile phones could be tracked on the battlefield. This research is needed as most analysis either focuses on ‘traditional’ military-radio methods, or mobile security-centric ways, and not both. We outline three main ways by which tracking of mobile devices on the battlefield could be done: radio, network or device enabled.This paper is the first to go into depth on the numerous ways that mobile phones could be tracked on the battlefield.