According to reports from Ukrainian commanders as shared with the Wall Street Journal, Russian jamming technology has made satellite-guided shells vulnerable in the Ukraine conflict. The precision-guided Western munitions, once thought to enhance accuracy and efficacy in battle, have faced significant challenges as their guidance systems were scrambled by Russian electronic warfare capabilities. This development has forced some of these advanced weapons, such as the M982 Excalibur munitions developed by RTX and BAE Systems, to be retired from the battlefield within weeks of deployment.

The impact of Russian jamming technology on Western munitions goes beyond just the Excalibur shells. More advanced weapons like the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) joint project between Boeing in the US and Saab in Sweden, and the GMLRS missiles used with the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system, have also proven ineffective against Russian electronic warfare in Ukraine. Despite initial expectations that these advanced weapons would be a significant advantage for Ukrainian forces, they have been unable to function effectively in the face of Russian signal-jamming equipment feeding false coordinates and interfering with their fuses.

US officials and analysts have acknowledged that the effectiveness of precision-guided Western munitions against a peer-level opponent like Russia has been significantly diminished due to Russian advancements in electronic warfare. Retired US General Ben Hodges noted the shift in strategy, highlighting that previous use of precision weapons in conflicts against lesser-equipped adversaries did not prepare Western forces for the challenges posed by countries like Russia and China. With Russian jamming capabilities proving to be a major obstacle for Western-supplied weapons in Ukraine, it has raised concerns about the future effectiveness of such munitions in modern conflicts against technologically advanced adversaries.