/ world today news/ The Russian military is playing cat and mouse with Western arms suppliers: American experts are looking for ways to counter our jamming systems that disrupt the GPS settings of missiles and guided bombs delivered to Ukraine.
Judging by the reports of the American media, so far the engineers of the Pentagon have not won – problems have already arisen with guided missiles for HIMARS. What and how allows these high precision weapons to be “fooled”?
One of the most formidable weapons delivered to Ukraine by the United States has begun to fail. These are HIMARS salvo missile systems that use a wide range of missile weapons.
According to CNN, there have been problems in recent months with the use of GMLRS (Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System) guided missiles, which are guided using GPS. According to journalists, the rockets began to deviate more and more often from the course.
This leads to a decrease in the accuracy of missile launches and, as a result, makes the use of guided weapons ineffective.
Ukraine’s military is being forced to ask the United States for more modifications and upgrades to guided missiles that would improve their effectiveness, Pentagon sources told CNN.
“It’s a constant game of cat and mouse: we’re looking for a way to counter their jamming systems, so then the Russians are looking for ways to counter those countermeasures,” the source told the US television channel.
“And it’s not clear how stable this system will be in the long term,” he added.
To counter the HIMARS missile systems, the Russian army actively uses radio electronic warfare (ERW), according to CNN. The generated interference jams the communication channel between the GMLRS missile and the GPS guidance system.
And it seems that all guided weapons supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries face such problems.
The widespread use of radio-electronic warfare systems affects artillery shells, aerial bombs, missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, military expert, reserve officer Alexander Mihailovski explained to the REGNUM agency.
“There are many reports that guided weapons are seriously losing accuracy. This applies to artillery shells Excalibur, aviation bombs JDAM-ER. Now it comes to the GMLRS missiles. How exactly this works is anybody’s guess. But the principle is general, “said the expert.
“The radio-electronic warfare complex affects the guidance system, replacing the coordinates set at the launch with others,” said Mihailovsky.
– “The missile flies in the zone of other coordinates created by the radio-electronic warfare complex. As a result, it either does not work at all, or it works, but in other coordinates. In any case, the accuracy of the fire is reduced,” he further explained.
Soldiers from a radio-electronic warfare unit in the SVO area. (c) Konstantin Mikhalchevsky, RIA NOVOSTI
The deviation of the rocket from the course can be done according to several algorithms, the expert noted. It is likely that Russian EW operators took some time to develop the necessary combat strategy.
“According to CNN, the problems with the use of GMLRS missiles started around February-March,” Mihailovsky said.
“Up until then, HIMARS had been extremely effective in attacking our communications. For example, along the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson,” he said.
“It must be admitted that the accuracy of shooting was extremely high, they could hit the same point again and again. But now this is no longer the case,” explains the expert.
“From this we can conclude that either the existing radio-electronic warfare systems have been adapted for a new threat, or something fundamentally new has been developed,” noted Mihailovski.
Among the installations that can affect enemy guided weapons are Palantine complexes, which create barrage interference, depriving the enemy of satellite communication, suppressing it in the short-wave or ultra-short-wave range.
The “palantines” are capable of suppressing the communication signal, working pointwise on any specific target and not affecting 360 degrees.
In addition, the complexes are mounted on the chassis of trucks, which allows them to move quickly, avoiding enemy artillery fire.
Whatever systems are used to combat the Ukrainian missiles, the Pentagon seems to be seriously concerned that the HIMARS “wonder weapon” is becoming less effective and is taking measures accordingly.
Work on a combat calculation of the Palantin radio-electronic warfare complex in the SVO zone, press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, TASS
US advisers are improving software for both the missiles themselves and the guidance systems, seeking to make them more resistant to jamming, CNN reports.
The latest changes were made to the missile guidance system in early May 2023. In addition, US advisers are training the armed forces on how to search for electronic warfare systems.
Whether the measures taken by American advisers will succeed in increasing the effectiveness of Hymars’ use, time will tell. But experts urge us not to write off prematurely the fact that the armed forces of Ukraine have high-precision missile weapons.
“GMLRS missiles have multiple guidance systems. Of course, GPS remains the most modern and accurate, but there is also an inertial guidance system that cannot be silenced from the outside, “Mikhailovski pointed out.
“Therefore, it cannot be claimed that with the push of a button now all the missiles will shut down and disappear,” he further stated.
Therefore, the Hymars will be used in any case, the US will adapt them to the new realities, maybe they will even have time to make adjustments to the announced offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the source believes.
“You could say the first round was theirs when they successfully used guided missiles in Ukraine. We answered. Now they are making their move. It is important to assess it, dismantle it and find an answer to it,” the military expert sums up.
As recent events show, the United States appears to be in no real rush to abandon HIMARS systems. At the end of April, RIA Novosti reported that Lockheed Martin received additional funds – 616 million dollars – for the production of new missiles, including the GMLRS.
Highmars salvo fire system, (c) US Marines/ZUMAPRESS.com /Global Look Press
The manufacturer previously complained that it could not meet the growing demand for GMLRS missiles due to a lack of qualified personnel and the necessary equipment.
In this regard, the Pentagon has increased the funding of the missile production program, calculated until 2026, notes the American portal Defense One.
According to experts, during the SVO, Ukrainian troops fired more than 9,000 HIMARS missiles of various types, which were delivered from the warehouses of the US Army and its allies.
The new missiles, which will be produced under the contract between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, may be subject to technical improvements related to the experience of using the HIMARS systems in real combat conditions. Therefore, it is definitely not worth writing off American missile systems for the time being.
Translation: SM
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