A new precision-guided US weapon has been pulled from use by the Ukrainian military because Russia is taking them out using electronic warfare, according to reports.
The GLSDB is a guided bomb with a range of 94 miles, thanks to its small wings that extend from its body. In 2022, marketing materials for the bomb said its navigation system is “supported by a highly jamming resistance GPS.”
As previously reported by Business Insider’s Mia Jankowicz, Ukraine received the bombs in early February after months of requesting long-range munitions in the hope of hitting targets in areas like Crimea.
In April, Defense One reported that Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, had said a ground-launched version of an air-to-ground weapon had become vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare. The publication said he was likely referring to the GLSDB.
“When you send something to people in the fight of their lives that just doesn’t work, they’ll try it three times and they’ll just throw it aside,” said LaPlante, according to the report, adding Ukraine no longer seemed interested in the weapon.
A month later, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the bombs’ guidance systems were running into Russian jamming, causing many of the launches to miss their targets.
Business Insider contacted Boeing, Saab, and the the Ukrainian army for comment.
The weapons are GPS-guided, meaning that Russia has been able to remotely scramble their signals using its sophisticated electronic warfare capability, according to The Journal.
It’s one of a number of precision-guided US weapons that Russia has been able to neutralize or reduce the effectiveness of using electronic warfare in Ukraine.
Russian electronic warfare units have blunted the effectiveness of HIMARS-fired Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and air-launched Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
BI reported in May that the US was researching ways to counter the problem should a war break out with a major military power.
Russia has reportedly been able to rapidly adapt to counter the threat of sophisticated US-supplied weapons.
In Ukraine, old-school artillery shells that aren’t vulnerable to electronic warfare are playing a major role in the war of attrition on the front lines.
Ukraine’s Western allies have struggled to provide enough shells, while Russia has massively increased its production of shells and is also sourcing artillery from its ally North Korea.
After Russia made advances earlier this year during a Ukraine aid block by Republicans in the US Congress, the resumption in the flow of aid has enabled Ukraine to hold off further advances and the war has again become a stalemate.
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