An intelligence leak from the Pentagon this year showed that the US and Ukraine were giving “high priority” to tracking down and destroying Russian Zhitel R-330Zh jamming stations, which are often deployed in military trucks, ahead of Ukraine’s much-talked-about counteroffensive .
“We will continue to advocate/recommend that those jammers are disrupted/destroyed to the maximum extent possible,” CNN quoted a document from the Pentagon intelligence leak as saying.
The Kyiv-based Ukrainskaya Pravada newspaper reported in April how Ukrainian special forces were mounting missions deep into Russia-controlled areas to hunt for jamming systems and relay their position back to artillery to destroy.
The leaked intelligence report also says that the jammers disabled other “smart munitions” such as GPS-guided shells fired by howitzers, and aerial bombs dropped by warplanes, that have been fitted with the US Joint Direct Attack Munition kit, which converts standard unguided bombs into precision weapons.
Ukraine has received at least 18 Himars launchers and the US has committed to giving it another 20.
Ukraine’s leadership has been urging the US to provide it with long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which have a range of 200 miles, but the US has resisted because it is worried that Ukraine may use them to strike Russia, escalating the war.