4 extra American HIMARS, 1,000 artillery shells will increase Ukrainian artillery effectiveness - Serhiy Zgurets 

United States will provide Ukraine with a new package of USD 400 million military aid 

A new USD 400 million military aid package from the United States was announced this week. This military aid package includes additional HIMARS systems, new high-precision munitions, repair vehicles, counter-battery radars and military equipment spare parts. The USA will transfer 4 HIMARS systems to Ukraine, which will increase their number to 12 units.  In general, it is expected that after the delivery of all HIMARS and M270 systems, their total number will be 21 units. In particular, 12 HIMARS anti-aircraft guns and 9 M-270. Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain promised to provide us with M270 anti-aircraft guns. These systems can fire 6 or 12 projectiles up to a distance of 70 km with a deviation from the target of only 3 m. However, some military experts say that the M270 MLRS is so accurate that the first projectile can punch a hole in a building, and the next one will hit a breakdown. The decision to transfer additional HIMARS systems to Ukraine confirms the effectiveness of the use of these MLRS by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This efficiency is also confirmed by the fact that, recently, warehouses with ammunition and operational headquarters of Russian troops are constantly exploding behind enemy lines. I'm sure that such a picture will be preserved in the future. The Ukrainian Armed Forces began using HIMARS anti-aircraft missiles on June 26.  

All the objects that were destroyed by these systems were behind the enemy at a distance of 50-60 km from the front line.  However, although the enemy panics due to the use of HIMARS, Russian forces will try to redeploy their warehouses with ammunition. It is also quite telling that it is quite difficult to intercept HIMARS missiles. The air defense of the Russian Federation does not cope with this task, since the HIMARS systems have projectiles that fly quite fast and are inconspicuous.

MLRS Himars (photo of the US Air Force)

Effective and highly accurate projectiles for Ukrainian artillery

In addition to 4 HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, the USA announced for the first time that they would transfer 1,000 shells to Ukraine, which the Ukrainian army had not received before. Such high-precision projectiles will significantly increase the capabilities of the artillery that is already in service with the Armed Forces. A Pentagon representative declined to name the projectiles in question. That is why the expert environment immediately started a discussion about what exactly the USA should transfer. At first, some experts began to say that these were Excalibur projectiles. This is a fairly high-precision projectile that has a satellite navigation system. Excalibur can deviate from the target by only 4 meters, which proves its high accuracy and efficiency. This ammunition can be fired from German and French howitzers, which are already in service with the Armed Forces. With the help of Excalibur, you can destroy the enemy at a distance of up to 48 km, which is a better indicator than in Russian artillery. However, I would like to note that Ukraine previously received such projectiles from Canada, and the question arises as to what the USA should really transfer, since the Pentagon emphasized that the Ukrainian army had not previously received projectiles that are part of the new aid package. Perhaps we are talking about another type of artillery shells. There is such a purely pragmatic American solution called M1156 Precision Guidance Kit. This is a set for controlling high-precision weapons. It is not the projectile itself, but a device that screws into the nose of the detonator and has a GPS guidance system that allows you to change the trajectory of the projectile in flight.  Such a projectile can be used by M777 howitzers and has an effective range of 28 km with a deviation of 5 meters. I think that when Ukraine receives such sets for our artillery shells, it will significantly increase the effectiveness of the artillery of the Armed Forces.

M982 Excalibur high-precision artillery projectile

Germany will deliver 30 Gepard anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine by end of July

This week there was talk again about the transfer of 30 Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine by Germany. Berlin officially confirmed that it is ready to transfer military equipment to Kyiv and finally solved the problem with ammunition for these installations. Germany promised to transfer Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine at the beginning of April. However, at the end of June it became known that Germany had only a limited amount of ammunition. They had 6,000 shells for 30 pieces of equipment. This means that the Gepard could only fire for 11 seconds on the battlefield.  It is during such a period of time that 6,000 shells can be completely fired. Germany approached Brazil to buy additional shells, but the Swiss company that produces such shells blocked the deal. And so yesterday in the German newspaper Bild came the news that the German government has agreed with a Norwegian manufacturer to supply ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft system. Therefore, if everything goes well, Ukraine will receive the promised 30 Gepard systems by the end of July.

German anti-aircraft vehicle Gepard