A Ukrainian serviceman walks past destroyed Russian tanks not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP)
WASHINGTON: For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States will provide jamming equipment to the Ukrainian military — a signal that electronic warfare activity could be ramping up in the eastern Donbas region of the country.
On Friday evening, the Defense Department announced an additional $150 million tranche of weapons for Ukraine, which includes “electronic jamming equipment” from existing US stocks.
A senior defense official, who spoke to journalists Monday on the condition of anonymity, said the lack of specific information regarding the EW equipment was intentional, and declined to provide additional information about what jamming equipment will be sent to Ukraine.
“It’s all of a piece of allowing the Ukrainians to operate more effectively in a very condensed geographic area, where we know the Russians routinely try to use electronic jamming as a way of their own ability to defend themselves against attack,” the official stated, adding that this specific EW equipment is “something that the Ukrainians … made clear that they needed.”
Although jamming equipment was not a part of previous packages, the United States has delivered “electronic warfare detection systems” in earlier deliveries.
In addition to the jamming equipment, the United States will also deliver 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, three AN/TPQ-36 counter-artillery radars and field equipment and spare parts. The United States has given $3.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invasion began on Feb. 24.
In the early weeks of the war, defense officials routinely commented that Russia had yet to deploy the full scope of its electronic warfare capabilities against Ukraine, adding at the time that “we do have indications that in some places they have used EW to their advantage, particularly in jamming, at a local level.”
RELATED: Why hasn’t Russia used its full scope of electronic warfare?
However, that could be changing as Russia coalesces its forces in the Donbas region, where — since the 2014 annexation of Crimea — Russian forces have used electronic attack capabilities like jamming to erode Ukrainian military capabilities.
The latest round of weapons leaves the Biden administration with just $100 million left in “presidential drawdown authority” that can be used at the White House’s discretion to send military aid to Ukraine, the senior defense official said.
