US precision arms in Kiev hit brick due to Russian electronic warfare
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Precision systems (Excalibur and GMLRS) see "shockingly decreased accuracy because of jamming."
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A Ukrainian serviceman from the Mountain Assault Brigade carries a portable electronic warfare at the frontline in Soledar direction, Donetsk region April 6, 2024. (AP)
US-made precision weaponry in Ukraine has a new obstacle to face: Russia's electronic warfare, which proves the need for the US to amp up solutions before any great-power conflict, Business Insider reported.
The effectiveness of weapons like the HIMARS-fired Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) and air-launched Joint Direct Attack Munitions decreases with Russian electronic warfare, the Business Insider report revealed, adding that precision systems (Excalibur and GMLRS) see "shockingly decreased accuracy because of jamming."
US-manufactured HIMARS has been Ukraine’s key weapon in the war, described as the “most revered and feared” weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal.
Informed Western sources told CNN last year that American and Ukrainian officials have been persistently trying to override Russia’s jamming technology by updating the HIMARS software. However, the updated measures have been met with more sophisticated Russian jamming technology.
Read next: Pentagon blames Russian e-warfare for failed Ukraine counteroffensive
A Pentagon official described it as a “constant cat-and-mouse game," whereby the Americans try to countermeasure only for the Russians to then counteract that countermeasure.
The US is reportedly assisting and advising Ukrainian forces on identifying and destroying the Russian jamming tech, according to the cited official.
This comes hours after the Russian Defense Ministry released a statement saying that Russian air defenses destroyed 21 rockets and nine drones over the Belgorod Region, in addition to seven drones over the Kursk and Volgograd regions.
“This night, a number of attempts by the Kiev regime to carry out terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation using the RM-70 Vampire Multiple Launch Rocket System and aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were stopped. Air defense systems on duty destroyed 21 rockets and nine UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod Region; seven UAVs were intercepted and destroyed over the Kursk and Volgograd regions," the Ministry said.
Back in May of last year, a report by the UK's Royal United Services Institute assessed Russia's electronic warfare to be a critical tactic of Russia in the war that has caused staggering losses of Ukrainian drones.
The report assessed daily losses to amount to a total of 300 drones every day, citing anonymous Ukrainian officers interviewed.
James Patton Rogers, a professor of war studies at the University of Southern Denmark, described the war in Ukraine as the world's first "drone vs. drone conflicts".
Rogers noted that the losses in Ukrainian drones reflect the finesse of Russian electronic warfare.
Read more: Russia's EW starts jamming Musk's Starlink Signal in Lugansk: Expert
