Ukraine is not only asking for more ammunition, but also munitions capable of withstanding Russia’s electronic jamming systems which, often and increasingly, manage to neutralize munitions, guided by satellites supplied by the United States, so much so that Kiev’s forces have stopped using some systems supplied by the West, as reported by Ukrainian sources cited by the Washington Post.
Among the systems destroyed by Russian ‘jamming’, which is also mounted on drones, there are Excalibur artillery shells, guided by GPS – whose success rate collapsed in the space of a few months to less than ten percent of the targets hit, compared to 50 percent at the beginning of last year, therefore abandoned in warehouses since last year – and the Himars (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) which can fire rockets with a range of up to 80 kilometers.
“Excalibur technology in the various existing versions has lost its potential,” reads an assessment carried out by the Ukrainian military command between autumn 2023 and April 2024. It is no longer a ‘one shot, one target’ system , as it was once advertised. For six months, the United States has stopped sending these systems to Kiev.
In other cases, such as the JDAM aircraft-dropped bombs, manufacturers patched the problem a few months after their introduction early last year and Ukraine resumed using them. Similar problems have occurred with other 155mm shells, supplied by other Western countries, even if they do not use GPS technology.
Same goes for Himars launchers. After a year of their introduction, their success petered out. “The Russians deployed electronic systems that disabled satellite signals and the Himars became completely ineffective, so much so that the very expensive system is increasingly being used to strike low-priority targets.” They can miss a target by 15 meters.
“Russia has continued to work and expand its use of electronic systems in warfare and does so with an urgency that Western manufacturers do not have. And we continue to evolve and ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities they need to be effective“, admitted an American military source, denying that bureaucratic aspects have slowed down the adaptation process.
“I’m not saying that no one cared about it before, but now they’re starting to worry about it,” a Ukrainian serviceman points out. Especially because what happens in the Ukrainian theater, including the weaknesses of American systems, also reaches Beijing.
In some cases, manufacturers provided solutions within hours or days, he added, but did not elaborate further. Ukrainian military sources specify that the defense in Kiev works closely with the Pentagon on these issues.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that in this war, the Ukrainians lack advanced air forces, such as F16s, and robust electronic countermeasures. But Russian capabilities nevertheless represent a significant source of pressure on the United States and its NATO allies, forcing them to continue to innovate. And a small-diameter bomb, the GBU-39, has been shown to resist electronic jamming. 90 percent of the bombs dropped reach their target. Precisely because of the small size.