Russia's new tactics are crippling US-supplied weapons in the air, officials say

Russia's new war tactics are crippling U.S.-supplied weapons in mid-flight, creating a frustrating challenge for Ukrainian forces, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Among the weapons that the US has provided Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia has precision-guided missiles and air weapons, which use a range of technologies to engage their targets. However, Russia has adapted its electronic warfare capabilities to scramble some of these weapons systems in the air, rendering them useless or scrambling their ability to hit targets accurately, according to Ukrainian commanders. he said the WSJ.

For example, the excalibur The artillery round, a precision-guided howitzer provided by the US in mid-2022, initially proved incredibly effective at targeting Russian tanks and artillery with laser targeting, according to the WSJ. Russian forces quickly adapted electronic countermeasures within weeks and were able to confuse the shell's GPS tracking system, causing it to deflect or fail to detonate on impact.

Russian electronic jamming is causing US-supplied missiles for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to suffer a similar fate, although the system is credited with turning the tide in Ukraine's favor during the summer of 2022, according to the WSJ. U.S.-supplied, Boeing-made small-diameter bombs have been abandoned by Ukrainian forces after they began to fail completely due to an electronic outage.

Other Western weapons are still managing to evade Russia's cyber warfare capabilities and hit their targets with precision, including US-made surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and European Shadow Storm cruise missiles, according to the WSJ. Ukrainian officials warned that it may only be a matter of time before Russia learns how to counter these weapons.

Many of the weapons the US is delivering to Ukraine are also older and less frequently used by the US military in favor of newer systems, according to the WSJ. Ukraine does not necessarily have access to these newer systems, and weapons manufacturers are slower to provide software updates to the older systems that Kiev has been forced to rely on.

of Ukraine domestic Weapons production, while not as advanced as that of the US, has placed a high priority on equipping the systems with frequent software updates to improve their chances against Russian targets, according to the WSJ. A US official told the WSJ that the Pentagon is “very aware” of Russia's advancing electronic warfare capabilities and is working to ensure US-supplied weapons keep pace.

Only the US has it provided Ukraine with about $70 billion in military assistance since the country's war with Russia began in 2022. Western allies have also provided Ukraine with tens of billions in military aid.

Despite the large amount of funding being given, US military assistance has done little to move the needle on the war in Kiev. address. Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold defensive positions throughout the eastern theater of war as Russian forces, with better manpower and weapons than Ukraine, continue to slowly advance and take territory.

Latest messages from Jake Smith (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.