Russia is so poor it’s taping gear to fighter jets, UK defense chief says Russian Su-34s flying over the 2014 Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow (Kremlin.ru/Released)
The navigational equipment Russian air forces have relied on during their invasion of Ukraine is of such poor quality that some Russian fighter jets have resorted to taping basic Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to their dashboards so they know where they actually are, according to British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace this week.
In a speech at the National Army Museum in London on Monday, Wallace said Russian forces invading Ukraine have been hindered by inadequate equipment and support.
“Almost none of their vehicles contain situational awareness and digital battle management,” Wallace said. “Vehicles are frequently found with 1980s paper maps of Ukraine in them.”
“But it’s not just ground forces,” Wallace continued. “‘GPS’ receivers have been found taped to the dashboards of downed Russian SU-34s so the pilots knew where they were, due to the poor quality of their own systems.”
Wallace didn’t specify how many instances there had been of downed Russian aircraft being found with basic GPS devices on board. On Saturday, a Twitter shared images purporting to show a commercial GPS device c-clamped inside a Russian Su-34.
“I can’t believe this. You’re looking at the cockpit of a Russian Su-34 fighter/bomber. It entered service in 2014 as one of the most modern planes in their inventory and is flying against #Ukraine. See the little box? It’s a commercial GPS just C-clamped to the dash.”
Russia has their own orbital geo location system called GLONASS. It's not as precise as GPS, but with a 3-7 meter accuracy, it's good enough for bombs. Whether they don't have it installed, or they can't make it work in their planes, I don't know. 2/2
— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) March 7, 2022
“Russia has their own orbital geo location system called GLONASS,” the Twitter user continued. “It’s not as precise as GPS, but with a 3-7 meter accuracy, it’s good enough for bombs. Whether they don’t have it installed, or they can’t make it work in their planes, I don’t know.”
Wallace’s speech coincided with Russia’s annual May 9 “Victory Day” celebrations. Russia celebrates Victory Day as the day Nazi Germany was defeated in World War II. Russia has historically celebrated the day with military parades.
Wallace said the Russian military’s apparent lack of situational awareness has contributed to Russian forces carrying out imprecise and indiscriminate attacks.
“Whilst Russia have large amounts of artillery and armor that they like parading, they are unable to leverage them for combined arms maneuver and just resort to mass indiscriminate barrages,” Wallace said.
Wallace also said Russia’s military knew its armored forces would be up against anti-tank missiles, but didn’t invest in effective systems to protect them. Wallace said even Russia’s most-advanced T-14 Armata tanks lack advanced protective systems. He suggested Russia is not actually prepared to field those T-14 tanks and they instead exist only as a show of force in Russia’s military parades.
“The Russians didn’t invest in effective systems to protect even their most advanced tanks,” Wallace said. “Remember the T-14? Presumably still just for victory parades.”
Wallace also noted Russian forces have turned to makeshift means of up-armoring their vehicles, including fastening pine logs to their sides or welding on crude metal slats overhead. Wallace even referred to these welded metal slats on Russian tanks as “cope cages,” a derisive slang term popularized in numerous memes since the start of the war.
“Russian soldiers’ futile use of pine logs as makeshift protection on logistical trucks and attaching overhead ‘cope cages’ to their tanks, it’s nothing short of tragic,” Wallace said. “But their commanders’ failures to adapt before entering them into such a conflict is criminal.”
