(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The jamming actions by the Russian military have been highly effective, causing the Ukrainian, U.S., and NATO forces to be unable to ensure whether their advanced weapons such as JDAM and HIMARS can accurately target their objectives.
This conclusion was drawn by a well-known think tank in the United Kingdom, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), recently.
“Jamming doesn’t render JDAM unusable, but it increases the risk of smart weapons not hitting their targets accurately,” said RUSI researcher Thomas Withington.
Although anti-jamming measures can address the issue, the electronic warfare systems of Russia have the capability to “drown out” GPS signals from satellites, according to the think tank’s study.
“The problem lies in the power of the jamming signal (by Russia’s electronic warfare systems) that cannot be countered,” Withington stated.
In fact, the United States had issued warnings about the jamming capabilities of Russia’s electronic warfare systems in a leaked document last April, addressing the decreased precision of the country’s “smart” weapons, including JDAM and HIMARS.
Smart weapon systems that rely on GPS initially provided hope for Ukraine, as they reduced the advantage held by Russia in terms of troop numbers and weaponry.
Last summer, weapons like HIMARS supplied to the Ukrainian military proved highly effective in disrupting Russian defense lines, enabling the recapture of several major cities.
However, the advantage held by the Ukrainian military was short-lived, as Russia made adjustments and adapted, causing Kiev to lose that edge.
“It’s no longer a secret that the Russian military, much like the Soviet Union spent a lot of time, effort, and funds to develop various electronic warfare systems,” he added.
The RUSI researcher highlighted Russia’s electronic warfare system, R-330Zh Zhitel, designed to disrupt GPS communication and satellite signals in the frequency range of 100 MHz to 2 GHz.
“The signal from the U.S. GPS satellites, where JDAM kits transmit, falls within the 1.164 GHz to 1.575 GHz range. This is within the operational range and capability of R-330Zh Zhitel,” Withington explained.
Russia’s efforts to counter Western “smart” weapons using GPS signals are part of a larger electronic warfare campaign that has successfully disrupted communication operations and drone activities of the Ukrainian military.
The Russian military now operates a major electronic warfare system every 10 square kilometers, and Moscow’s jamming operations have caused Ukraine to lose an estimated 10,000 drones (likely small-sized) every month, as estimated by RUSI.
According to another RUSI report, Russian forces operating electronic warfare systems are described as “highly capable” in bypassing and unraveling the communication systems of the Ukrainian military.
In one instance, Russian forces were said to have bypassed and decoded a secret radio message from the Ukrainian military requesting fire support, allowing them to issue early warnings to their troops. — DSA
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