-
Russia has blocked Western precision weapons in Ukraine through electronic counterwarfare.
-
The situation has shown that unguided artillery is still useful, a Finnish general told WSH.
-
“They are immune to any kind of interference,” he said.
Russia's blocking of precision weapons supplied to Ukraine by the West shows that unguided artillery can still be used in technologically advanced warfare, a Finnish general told The Wall Street Journal.
Weapons guided by a GPS system allow for precise strikes on enemy targets and played a crucial role in Ukraine's previous countermeasures against Russia during the war.
The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which can hit targets up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, was once seen as a key lifeline for Ukraine to stop Russia's advance in the summer of 2022.
But those same precision weapons, supplied by the West, are becoming ineffective as Russia adapts on the battlefield and turns to electronic warfare.
The methods include jamming or spoofing the GPS system in weapons, causing them to veer off course. These electronic countermeasures are often inexpensive and can be used against drones as well, Business Insider previously reported. Both Ukraine and Russia have engaged in electronic warfare.
The measures also prevented the launch of the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb, a guided bomb from the U.S. and Sweden with a range of 94 miles (151 kilometers), which Ukraine received in early February, The Journal reported.
Lieutenant General Esa Pulkkinen, the permanent secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Defense, told The Journal that electronic warfare has shown that there are still applications for less sophisticated, unguided artillery shells.
“They are immune to any kind of jamming and they go to their target regardless of electronic warfare capabilities,” Pulkkinen told The Journal.
Precision-guided weapons are a key focus of the broader US defense strategy, according to The New York Times, but in Ukraine the war is largely being fought with unguided artillery.
As a result, the U.S. and other Western nations have ramped up production of unguided artillery shells. Pentagon officials have said the U.S. wants to increase production of 155mm artillery shells, which are fired from howitzers, to 100,000 a month by 2025.
Read the original article on Business Insider
