Jamming JDAMS
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Leaked Pentagon classified files reveal Russia jamming NATO smart bombs and Ukrainian order of battle leak forces Kiev to delay counter offensive till summer
Pentagon officials have reportedly expressed concern that US-produced smart bombs provided to Ukraine are being electronically jammed by Russian forces, causing them to miss their targets.
The precision-guided bombs, which are among the increasingly advanced weaponry that Washington has been providing to Kiev, have been rendered “useless” by Russian jamming tactics, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing leaked Pentagon documents. The US media outlet added that an unidentified Pentagon official had confirmed the authenticity of the documents.
The US has given Ukraine the long-range version of its Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which can be launched by bombers or fighter jets and guided to targets more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) away. They are touted as being accurate to within ten meters.
However, Politico said, the JDAMs have missed their targets on multiple occasions. In other cases they failed to detonate because of a separate technical glitch, though Ukrainian forces have come up with a fix to ensure that the bombs arm correctly, according to the documents.
“The news adds to an increasingly bleak picture of the state of Ukraine’s military that has emerged from a trove of top-secret intelligence documents that leaked on social media and came to light over the past week,” Politico said.
The leaked documents alleged that Russia was using GPS jamming and other tactics to interfere with the JDAMs’ targeting process. Such tactics also have been employed against other American weapons, including guided rockets, causing them to miss their targets.
US intelligence agencies seem to believe the city of Artyomovsk, which Kiev considers to be a crucial stronghold for its forces in Donbass, will inevitably fall into Russian hands, dealing a “psychological blow” to Kiev. It also noted that the morale of Ukrainian soldiers near Artyomovsk is “low.”
The start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian troops has been planned for April 30, Newsweek reported on Sunday, citing a leaked Pentagon document.
Dated February 28, the file details equipment deliveries and a training schedule for nine brigades that “can be generated for the spring counteroffensive” with the help of the US and its allies. Three additional brigades are expected to be gathered “internally” in Ukraine, according to the file.
Out of the nine brigades trained and equipped by Western countries, six will be ready by March 31, while the “final”three will be ready by April 30, the document claimed.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal told The Hill during a visit to the US last week that an offensive might not be launched until the summer. Speaking to reporters on Monday, the premier suggested that the Pentagon leak would not change Kiev’s plans, asserting that “we are confident that the counteroffensive will happen in the nearest future.”
Aleksey Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, previously said that offensive operations were dependent on the supply of heavy equipment from abroad. The Washington Post reported on April 12 that the long-expected push had been delayed due to bad weather, slow equipment deliveries, and ammunition shortages.
A trove of classified US documents, including intelligence reports and daily updates on the Ukraine conflict, came to the attention of news organizations in April after being dumped online sometime earlier this year. The suspected leaker, US airman Jack Teixeira, was arrested by the FBI last week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday that Moscow had looked into the leaked documents, although Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has suggested that some of the files could be part of a “deception” campaign.
Source Reuters/RT
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