The US media recently reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) admitted the HIMARS system was useless in the battles in Donbass.
According to military time, Recently in conflict with ukraine russian, it was reported that two factories for repairing heavily armored vehicles, mainly tanks, will be established in the Moscow and Rostov regions. The addition was necessary because mobile repair crews could not get all the work done on the battlefield.
According to the American newspaper, the command of the Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut (Artemovsk) recently stated that even the presence of the US-supplied M142 HIMARS multiple launch missile system, would not have a major impact on the route. Russian military supply lines.
According to the New York Times, the Ukrainian Army came to the conclusion that the Donbass separatists have adapted to their Western appearance of MLRS and have found a way to minimize the damage caused by the M142 HIMARS attack. as well as other AFU weapons.
Specifically, the Russian armed forces and the Donetsk militia, through the relocation of ammunition depots outside the range of HIMARS, helped them avoid attacks by the Ukrainian army.
As noted by the newspaper, the forces of Russia and its allies are gradually liberating cities and repelling the Ukrainian army by using high-precision missile fire attacks, suicide UAVs, etc. Destroy the military equipment and destroy the enemy’s life force.
While the M142 HIMARS did not show much, in August, a US military expert also admitted that the Ukrainian Army was in danger of running out of HIMARS missiles for multiple launch missile systems (MLRS). provided by the US in a few months.
According to retired US Marine Colonel Mark Kanchian, the US has produced about 50,000 guided missiles for the HIMARS system since it began production in 2004 and plans to buy only about 5,800 more. fire in the current financial year.
He estimated that the US Army only had about 25-28 thousand of these missiles. Although the Pentagon does not release specific numbers, it can be concluded based on the amount of military funding spent on it.
The former US officer assessed, according to the combat and reserve standards of the US Army, the Pentagon will only provide Ukraine with about one-third of this amount of missile ammunition (the same amount of aid has already been made). with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
Mr. Kanchian said that some experts think the missile will run out in a month or more, but he thinks this assessment is more than pessimistic because Ukraine will not be able to use HIMARS indiscriminately at that rate. , because this weapon is a valuable aid to them.
He said that HIMARS missile ammunition may run out after 3 months, which means it cannot be maintained until 2023, because the quantity provided by the US is limited, and the Pentagon does not allocate the budget to buy more missiles. fire. By that time, Ukraine will no longer have any effective weapons against the Russians.
In addition, some other experts also said that the US could not provide Ukraine with this expensive missile for free, in the context of too many complaints in Washington’s political circles about the waste of money silver for Ukraine, while the White House seems to be forgetting about China.
In addition, the US providing HIMARS to Ukraine is not entirely a good idea to help allies, but it is in the purpose of PR for this weapon to motivate allies to buy more US weapons. Therefore, the US will only provide limited quantities for Ukraine to show them on the battlefield.
This prediction seems to have a basis when there is now a Polish ally who is planning to buy up to 500 HIMARS missile systems, bringing huge profits to the giant weapons corporation Lockheed Martin Corporation. Therefore, the prospect of running out of HIMARS missile ammunition for Ukraine is completely real.
