https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-guided...10901.html
Russia has successfully copied the JDAM. Their weapon is slightly heavier (because of it's construction) but contains about the same quantity of explosive. The idea of using Patriots to kill the Russian aircraft dropping these weapons is a non-starter. That isn't what the Patriot was designed to do and Patriots are not intended to be deployed far forward. There aren't enough Patriots in the world to do that job and if you place them far forward they can be destroyed by conventional artillery. Keeping those Russian aircraft away is an air force job. Ukraine virtually has no air force. Thus the need for F-16s.
Ukraine has been supplied with JDAMs, but have not used them particularly successfully. There are lots of contributing factors to this problem. First, the bombs are jury rigged onto platforms that are not designed to operate them. Second, there aren't very many platforms available to carry the bombs and those that are do so at great risk, as escorts and SEAD are not available due to the same lack of platforms. Third, the Russians have deployed effective GPS jammers near their important targets that defeat/degrade the JDAM guidance. Ukraine has no effective way to destroy these jammers. To use JDAMs effectively, Ukraine needs enough delivery platforms designed to carry the weapon and enough escort aircraft to suppress Russian air defenses and destroy the GPS jammers. If the Ukrainians had those weapons during their summer offensive, the Russians in their fixed hardened positions would have received the treatment Ukrainians now are receiving in theirs.
This also is an example of giving the Russians time to learn. The US developed the original JDAMs in the 1980s. Russia is only now doing the same, as they realize from experience it is the only way to strike prepared defenses without losing too many aircraft. There is often talk about how NATO is learning a lot about Russian capabilities from this war. While that is undoubtedly true, Russia is also learning a lot about Russian capabilities and in many cases adopting new strategies and new techniques to eliminate deficiencies they have. By not giving the Ukrainians the means to win relatively quickly, we are "immunizing" the Russian military by exposing it to a "non-lethal" dose of NATO/US weaponry and allowing them to develop and deploy "antibodies". The US has repeatedly made this mistake in previous conflicts, and we are doing it again. Dumb beyond words.
Russia has successfully copied the JDAM. Their weapon is slightly heavier (because of it's construction) but contains about the same quantity of explosive. The idea of using Patriots to kill the Russian aircraft dropping these weapons is a non-starter. That isn't what the Patriot was designed to do and Patriots are not intended to be deployed far forward. There aren't enough Patriots in the world to do that job and if you place them far forward they can be destroyed by conventional artillery. Keeping those Russian aircraft away is an air force job. Ukraine virtually has no air force. Thus the need for F-16s.
Ukraine has been supplied with JDAMs, but have not used them particularly successfully. There are lots of contributing factors to this problem. First, the bombs are jury rigged onto platforms that are not designed to operate them. Second, there aren't very many platforms available to carry the bombs and those that are do so at great risk, as escorts and SEAD are not available due to the same lack of platforms. Third, the Russians have deployed effective GPS jammers near their important targets that defeat/degrade the JDAM guidance. Ukraine has no effective way to destroy these jammers. To use JDAMs effectively, Ukraine needs enough delivery platforms designed to carry the weapon and enough escort aircraft to suppress Russian air defenses and destroy the GPS jammers. If the Ukrainians had those weapons during their summer offensive, the Russians in their fixed hardened positions would have received the treatment Ukrainians now are receiving in theirs.
This also is an example of giving the Russians time to learn. The US developed the original JDAMs in the 1980s. Russia is only now doing the same, as they realize from experience it is the only way to strike prepared defenses without losing too many aircraft. There is often talk about how NATO is learning a lot about Russian capabilities from this war. While that is undoubtedly true, Russia is also learning a lot about Russian capabilities and in many cases adopting new strategies and new techniques to eliminate deficiencies they have. By not giving the Ukrainians the means to win relatively quickly, we are "immunizing" the Russian military by exposing it to a "non-lethal" dose of NATO/US weaponry and allowing them to develop and deploy "antibodies". The US has repeatedly made this mistake in previous conflicts, and we are doing it again. Dumb beyond words.