Posted on 07/10/2024 11:31:44 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
The Excalibur artillery round performed wonders when it was introduced into the Ukrainian battlefield in the summer of 2022. Guided by GPS, the shells hit Russian tanks and artillery with surgical precision, as drones overhead filmed the resulting fireballs.
That didn’t last.
Within weeks, the Russian army started to adapt, using its formidable electronic warfare capabilities. It managed to interfere with the GPS guidance and fuzes, so that the shells would either go astray, fail to detonate, or both. By the middle of last year, the M982 Excalibur munitions, developed by RTX and BAE Systems, became essentially useless and are no longer employed, Ukrainian commanders say.
Several other weapons that showcased the West’s technological superiority have encountered a similar fate. Russian electronic countermeasures have significantly reduced the precision of GPS-guided missiles fired by Himars systems, the weapon credited for reversing the momentum of the war in Ukraine’s favor in the summer of 2022, Ukrainian military officials say.
A brand-new system, the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb munition, manufactured by Boeing and Sweden’s Saab, has failed altogether after its introduction in recent months, in part because of Russian electronic warfare, Ukrainian and Western officials say. It is no longer in use in Ukraine pending an overhaul.
The Pentagon declined to discuss the performance of specific U.S. weapons systems, citing operational security.
Some of the other Western precision weapons, provided more recently, continue to strike high-value Russian targets. U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles and the Storm Shadow cruise missiles manufactured by Franco-British-Italian defense company MBDA have devastated several airfields, command centers and communications facilities in Russian-occupied Crimea and other parts of the country this year. A number of Russia’s vaunted S-400 air defense batteries were among the successful hits.
For these weapons, too, it’s only a matter of time before Russia learns how to
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Bkmk
Must have missed that 2022 reverse in momentum. How long did it last? Was it good for you too?
Ukrainian Forces Enter Kherson as Russia Completes Retreat
Residents raised Ukrainian flags in the southern city, the only regional capital Moscow had seized in the invasion
Nov. 11, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukrainian-forces-gain-on-kherson-as-russia-retreats-11668158517
Russian forces withdraw from key areas in Kharkiv region
9/10/2022
Russian troops are withdrawing from key areas of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, including the strategically important city of Izium, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.
In its first public statement on the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv region, the ministry announced that it would withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian cities of Balakliia and Izium.
“In order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate the Donbas, it has been decided to regroup the Russian troops stationed in the districts of Balakliia and Izium,” said Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry.
I’m pretty sure GPS has a secure mode that can be turned on. Maybe we’re not sharing the way to use that mode with Ukraine.
May God bless President Putin and may there be a pox put on all the houses of his enemies.
The solution is to use self contained navigation systems. Have been used in other weapons systems for about 50 years. Not jam able but more costly—but you do not lose your own weapon to old technology.
Why not “God Bless America” instead?
Still BLOWS MY MIND to think that the Neocons actually thought GPS-guided weapons would work against the Russians.
Maybe when they see half a dozen US cities fried, they’ll finally figure that Russia can also build nukes too.
What makes “secure mode” jam proof? It is not how it works.
Also not near as accurate.
Other self contained systems are not as accurate, but close. So launch two.
Good grief. It might not fly in a window-so what.
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