Summary and Key Points: The U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has been a crucial weapon for Ukraine since its delivery in June 2022, providing medium-range strike capabilities against Russian forces. However, recent reports indicate that Russian electronic warfare has significantly reduced the system's effectiveness by jamming its targeting accuracy.

-This degradation has led to HIMARS missing targets by over 50 feet in some cases, raising concerns among Ukrainian and U.S. officials. Despite efforts to counteract the jamming, the situation highlights the growing challenge of maintaining the effectiveness of advanced weapons systems in the face of sophisticated electronic warfare.

-The impact on HIMARS and other systems like Excalibur shells and JDAMs underscores the ongoing "cat-and-mouse" struggle in modern warfare and raises concerns about the continued viability of Western military aid to Ukraine.

HIMARS Drama as Russia Changes Tactics 

The United States and other Western allies have been gifting Ukraine with various weapons systems since Russia invaded in February 2022. One of the higher-profile gifted weapons systems is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), complements of the U.S., which was first delivered in June 2022. 

The HIMARS is a truck-mounted missile launcher that can fire multiple guided missiles in quick succession at ranges up to 80 kilometers. HIMARS was effective initially, granting Ukraine medium-range targeting ability that aided in offensive operations. But recently the HIMARS has underperformed on account of Russian jamming, which can debilitate the HIMARS’ targeting accuracy.

HIMARS: Ineffective in Ukraine

The HIMARS “supplied to Ukraine by the U.S. has been ‘completely ineffective’ on the battlefield due to persistent Russian jamming,” The Defense Post reported. The assessment comes from a classified Ukrainian weapons assessment, first reported by The Washington Post, which offered harsh reviews for the performance of some American weapons systems, including the high-tech HIMARS. According to the assessment, Ukraine was unable to rely on many U.S.-gifted weapons because Russian electronic warfare capabilities are so effective. 

“In recent months, the [HIMARS] have been rendered increasingly less effective by the Russians’ intensive blocking,” CNN reported, “forcing US and Ukrainian officials to find ways to tweak the HIMARS software to counter the evolving Russian jamming efforts.” The officials are working to address the HIMARs’ jamming-related inaccuracies, which cause the system to sometimes miss its target “by more than 50 feet.” 

“It is a constant cat-and-mouse game,” one Pentagon official said, referring to the development of countermeasures to Russian jamming. The Ukrainians and their allies are going to work diligently to maintain the HIMARS’ effectiveness, for the missile system has been “extremely important.”

“They have to be able to keep those HIMARS in the game and keep using them to be able to make effective deep strikes,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson told CNN. “It’s one thing to be able to hold the Russians off where they are right now. It’s another thing to drive them out. They’re dug in, they’ve been there for a year.”

The HIMARS isn’t the only weapon impacted. Russian electronic warfare capabilities have also degraded the effectiveness of Excalibur GPS-guided artillery shells and the air-dropped Joint Direct Attack Munition. But the HIMARS performance has been especially concerning.

Russia has begun to target the HIMARS system, boasting of targeting the HIMARS with “sniper accuracy.” Here’s footage of the Russians destroying a HIMARS system in early 2024. This represents a significant blow to the Ukrainians who are so deeply reliant on foreign military aid, and it should concern Americans, too, whose tax dollars are smoldering in a Ukrainian field.

About the Author: Harrison Kass, Defense Expert 

Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.

Image Credit: Creative Commons.