On Tuesday, the United States announced that it was sending several missile rocket systems to Ukraine, but the potential to build a real game changer on the ground against the Russian military was not so clear.
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Announcement of Himmars, a mobile rocket launcher system capable of firing multiple missiles simultaneously – mounted on a light shield.
Russian and Ukrainian forces already use similar tools, but American Himar systems have a longer range and are more accurate.
According to a senior White House official, this system will provide kyiv with about 80 km. Washington does not want the Ukrainian military to shoot at targets in Russian territory.
“We are not going to send rockets to Ukraine that could hit Russia,” Joe Biden told reporters Monday morning.
The M142 Himars Systems is a modernized, slim, lightweight armored version of the M270 MLRS fitted to a chain created by the United States and its allies in the 1970s.
Himmers can carry two types of missile launchers: one that allows simultaneous launch of 227 mm guide missiles, and the other is the ATACMS tactical missile with long range.
A small team can reload the missiles in minutes. This will require training for Ukrainian soldiers.
The U.S. military has already deployed Himalayas in Europe. Poland and Romania, members of NATO, also have them.
The amount that Washington plans to send to Ukraine has not yet been specified.
Many U.S. rocket-propelled grenades will allow Ukrainian armed forces to strike deeper Russian positions, while furthering their batteries from the front.
The six missiles fired from Heimarx are GPS-guided and have twice the range of conventional shell guns, the M777 Howitzer already supplied by the United States.
This limit makes it possible to keep the batteries out of range of Russian artillery, on the contrary, to attack them.
These missiles could bomb Russian military warehouses behind their borders.
But the United States does not supply kyiv ATACMS tactical missiles with a range of up to 300 km.
According to experts, the Himalayas could change the military balance on the ground, while the Ukrainian army looks set to retreat into the Donbass against Moscow’s firing.
Other analysts prefer to be more cautious about the impact of such a weapon after more than three months of war.
“The Himalayas will restore the balance of power,” a senior U.S. official said.
Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, the United States has aided Ukraine, while at the same time avoiding any action that Russia considers provocative – for fear that the conflict could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders.
This has resulted in a particularly refusal to openly approve Ukrainian strikes within Russian borders. With missiles, drones and helicopters, kyiv forces have already carried out attacks in neighboring Russian provinces.
If Washington had decided to supply long-range ATACMS missiles with Himars systems, kyiv could theoretically have targeted military bases, including major Russian cities and air bases used to attack Ukraine.
