Russia is capable of disrupting the operation of American guided bombs
Russian forces are electronically jamming US "smart" bombs in Ukraine, causing them to miss, Politico reported, citing recently leaked documents confirmed by a Defense Department official.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) is a guidance kit that transforms an air-dropped unguided bomb into a precision munition. The system uses an inertial navigation system and Global Positioning System guidance control to guide a bomb to a target up to 45 miles (72 kilometers) away.
According to Politico, Russian forces have employed GPS jammers that interfere with the weapon aiming process. The interference has impacted other US weapons deployed in Ukraine, such as guided rockets, the paper added. “I think there is a concern that the Russians could jam the signal used to direct the JDAMs, which would explain why these munitions don't work as expected and as they do in other war zones,” said Mick Mulroy, a former official of the Pentagon and retired CIA agent.
In addition to the electronic interference, the JDAM-ER's "higher than expected" failure rate was also due to the failure of its fuze to detonate the bomb, a problem which, however, appears to have been resolved with a separate intervention. Boeing, which is the manufacturer of the guidance kit, was asked to intervene directly to resolve the guidance problems.
The revelation adds to heightened US concerns about Ukraine's military capability, reflected in classified documents leaked last week. Classified documents released online reveal Washington's doubts about Ukraine's ability to make significant gains in a planned counter-offensive against Russia. The documents detail Ukraine's shortcomings in ammunition, training and air defense, plus, at this point, US weapons weaknesses:
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The article Russia is capable of disrupting the operation of American guided bombs comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-russia-e-in-grado-di-disturbare-il-funzionamento-delle-bombe-guidate-americane/ on Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:25:41 +0000.