US uses Ukraine as a testing ground for electronic warfare
(Baonghean.vn) - The Pentagon is "taking notes" on Russia and Ukraine's use of electronic warfare (EW), Defense News quoted US Army Commander Josh Kozlov as saying.
The comments from the commander of the US Army's 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing are significant amid ongoing tensions between the US and China. Kozlov's unit was established two years ago to spearhead US efforts to catch up with advanced electronic warfare. "The agility that both sides have demonstrated in the way they conduct operations in the spectrum is amazing... Both sides are playing a very, very good game of cat and mouse," the US Army commander said of the conflict in Ukraine. "For us, in the future, if we are going to face a peer competitor, agility and speed are the keys to success in the spectrum."
Military think tanks such as the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) have said that Russia’s electronic warfare capabilities are one of the main reasons why Ukrainian forces have failed to make any significant progress during the three-month summer offensive. On the battlefield, Russian forces disrupted Ukrainian communications and hampered the targeting of precision munitions supplied by the West. Electronic countermeasures have also helped the Russian military thwart Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russian territory.
Ukraine’s leaders have touted their country as a testing ground for advanced Western weapons systems, arguing that manufacturers have a unique opportunity to test prototypes in real combat. Ben Wallace, then British defence secretary, called Ukraine a “battle laboratory” for the British military in a report to parliament in July./.