In February, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command told the House Armed Services Committee, said that the United States has to reinvest in electronic and cyber warfare to counter Russia’s advancements.
“For twenty years we’ve been making a partner out of Russia so our focus has not been on the capabilities that they have been developing,” he said, according to the National Interest. “Secondly, for all the right reasons, for the last thirteen or so years, our nation’s military has been focused on counterinsurgency operations—COIN—in Afghanistan and fighting Al Qaeda.”
Russian forces have also been jamming drones and blocking battlefield communications in Syria and Ukraine, according to Foreign Policy.
“They have companies, they have battalions, they have brigades that are dedicated to the electronic warfare mission,” Col. Jeffrey Church told Foreign Policy. The Russian units are deploying “with specific electronic warfare equipment, with specific electronic warfare chains of command,” he added.
