Russia’s New Tactics Are Paralyzing US-Provided Weapons Mid-Air, Officials Say

Russia’s new war tactics are paralyzing U.S.-provided weapons mid-flight, creating a frustrating challenge for Ukrainian forces, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Among the weapons the U.S. has provided to Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia are precision-guided missiles and air weapons, which use an array of technologies to hone in on their targets. However, Russia has adapted its electronic warfare capabilities to scramble some of these weapons systems mid-air, rendering them useless or compromising their ability to hit targets with precision, Ukrainian commanders told the WSJ.

“We should assume that adaptation will always occur, and the Russians have adapted to a variety of things,” Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told the WSJ. “The capabilities will be most effective immediately after they are introduced, and adversaries will develop countermeasures over time.”

For example, the Excalibur artillery round, a shell equipped with precision guidance provided by the U.S. in mid-2022, initially proved incredibly effective at striking Russian tanks and artillery with laser focus, according to the WSJ. However, Russian forces quickly adapted with electronic countermeasures within weeks and were able to confuse the shell’s GPS tracking system, causing it to fly astray or fail to detonate on impact.

Russian electronic interference is causing U.S.-provided missiles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS