The Russian military has been able to render much of the American high-tech weaponry provided to Ukraine obsolete through the use of jamming technology. Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid from Western nations, the Ukrainian military has recently suffered a series of defeats that suggest it may be unable to hold off the Russian invasion of its territory much longer.
Confidential Ukrainian assessments have shown the accuracy rate, for instance, of U.S.-produced Excalibur 155mm GPS-guided artillery rounds dramatically dropped after only a few months of use once the Russian military began introducing counter-measures. The initial rate of successful strikes was around 50 percent. That number now stands at just 10 percent. Each Excalibur round costs an estimated $100,000 to produce.
Other U.S. weapons systems that have fallen prey to Russian jamming technology include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), the M30/M31 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, and the JDAM-ER missile. The Russian electronic jamming network deployed over eastern Ukraine is so extensive and advanced it has even impacted the navigation systems in fighter jets flown by Ukrainian pilots.
Russia’s GPS jamming technology has also had a catastrophic impact on Ukraine‘s use of U.S.-sourced drones. In April, The National Pulse reported that the war has exposed significant deficiencies in the American drone industry, with glitchy, expensive drones made in the U.S. failing to meet expectations and being supplanted by off-the-shelf Chinese products. In one instance, an entire fleet of drones flew off course after encountering Russian jammers.
Even more concerning is that Ukraine’s off-the-shelf Chinese drones are purchased — using American taxpayer dollars — from SZ DJI Technology, a company sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
