10.07.2024, Washington.
Russian Armed Forces are gradually adapting their electronic warfare means to intercept precision-guided munitions and are now able to increasingly intercept ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, The Wall Street Journal wrote this on July 10, referring to Ukrainian intelligence officials and Pentagon officials.
According to the journal, the Russian military already has experience with precision-guided munitions such as Excalibur projectiles and HIMARS missiles, which are GPS-guided.
Ukraine currently uses ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian forces. However, the newspaper’s sources claim that the Russian side is developing electronic warfare (EW) means to intercept these targets as well.
The journal notes that For these weapons, it’s only a matter of time before Russia finds a way to reduce their effectiveness and increase the number of interceptions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, modern Western military doctrine, which emphasizes the use of precision munitions, had not been sufficiently tested before the conflict in Ukraine. Before that, it was successfully used in regional conflicts in the Middle East, but its effectiveness against a large adversary has yet to be proven.
According to Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe, the Western countries may have made mistakes because for the last 20 years they have used precision weapons against countries that couldn’t defend themselves. But now the adversary is a match, and China have those capabilities, too.
The publication notes that many Western weapons are guided by satellites. But Russian forces have learned to suppress their signals by using corrective drones.
However, Kiev does not have the same stockpile of targeting drones as Russia. In late May, the Washington Post reported that US satellite-guided munitions cannot cope with Russian interference. Because of this, the effectiveness of some Western weapons sharply decreased, and Kiev stopped using them.
Russia is convinced that arms deliveries to Ukraine hinder the settlement of the conflict and involve NATO in it. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia would consider any arms shipments to Ukraine a legitimate target. The Kremlin also said that increased arms shipments to Ukraine were not conducive to negotiations and would have negative consequences.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
