By Free Republic | Created at 2024-10-06 22:31:04 | Updated at 2024-10-07 00:24:16
1 hour ago
US-Made HIMARS ‘Ineffective’ in Ukraine Due to Russian Jamming: Report
TheDefensePost ^ | May 27, 2024 | Joe Saballa
Posted on 10/06/2024 3:29:31 PM PDT by Red6
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supplied to Ukraine by the US has been “completely ineffective” on the battlefield due to persistent Russian jamming.
This is according to a classified Ukrainian weapons assessment seen by The Washington Post, exposing more flaws in some of America’s most sophisticated weapon systems.
According to the report, Kyiv had to pause or scale back its use of some US-supplied weapons because of targeting issues caused by Moscow’s electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
One source said the HIMARS sometimes misses its target by more than 50 feet (15 meters).
Apart from the Lockheed Martin missiles, the report said Russian jamming is also rendering the Excalibur GPS-guided artillery shells less effective.
“The Excalibur technology in existing versions has lost its potential,” the assessment claimed, disproving the weapon’s “one shot, one target” reputation.
The Russian Ministry of Defense recently claimed that the US-supplied HIMARS rockets are no longer considered a difficult target for the invading forces.
Its Buk-M1 surface-to-air missiles are reportedly capable of taking down the advanced American weapon with “sniper accuracy.”
The missiles are mostly positioned in Donetsk to protect the Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory.
“Its main trump card is its firing accuracy, which leaves no chance to enemy air targets, including Western-made missiles,” the ministry stated.
The Buk-M1 has a striking distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles).
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia; Ukraine; War
KEYWORDS: himars; ukraine; war
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Other articles on this topic:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/24/russia-jamming-us-weapons-ukraine/
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My 5 cents: Initially our systems were highly effective, the media did not lie about that.
The problem is simply that modern high tech weaponry is dependent on certain technologies to make it work, and all of these once known can be overcome. Systems can be hardened, made more difficult to counter, but that too can be over come.
Our defense industry is massive, bureaucratic, and slow to adapt. Especially if it's not our kids dying right now (the pressure isn't the same). I am sure we have folks on the ground in Ukraine regards military hardware, I am sure we are bringing things back to the US for analysis, but are we truly keeping up? I doubt it. As stated earlier, the pressure to do so isn't there.
This war in Ukraine will take many of our key weapon systems, what our own military depends on, and significantly reduce its capabilities since how they work, even our tricks, are known and solid countermeasures and tactics have been developed.
HIMARS PATRIOT Javelin Excalibur Stinger Q36, 47, 64 ATACMs HARM Jamming systems Drones (many, various)
We still use much of that, and like in the Mad magazine style Spy vs. Spy game being played in Ukraine vs. Russia, they are making advances by leaps and bounds trying to out-do each other in the tech game on the battlefield. Where does than leave our weaponry in the long run?
1 posted on 10/06/2024 3:29:31 PM PDT by Red6
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