Each HIMARS, MLRS missile has a clearly defined target

Today I will emphasize the weapons that we receive and the people who use these weapons and learn to use them effectively against an insidious enemy.

A new package of military aid from the United States

The U.S.is handing Ukraine another tranche of military aid in the amount of $550 million.This package includes the supply of 155 mm artillery ammunition, as well as guided missiles for the long-range HIMARS and MLRS systems.These weapons are transferred by order of President Biden from the stocks of the US Department of Defense.The total number of 155 mm artillery ammunition will reach 449 thousand plus one thousand guided artillery rounds of the same caliber.

Let me remind you that when we started the active phase of the war, our stocks of Soviet 152 mm shells were eight times less than we have now.  At that time, we had little ammunition, which affected the course of hostilities. We can remember the dynamics when the enemy uses 20 shots against our positions and we use one.

Now the situation is changing. On the battlefield today, the ratio is one to six.  That is, we increase our potential, relying on the capabilities of 155 mm caliber artillery systems, which we received from various countries: the USA, France, Germany.  Today we have 300 artillery systems of 155 mm caliber.  Of course, it is less than that of the enemy. The enemy uses 1,500 artillery systems of various calibers on the battlefield and still has a numerical advantage. This numerical advantage no longer allows the enemy to implement the strategy of a barrage of fire when he was simply pushing our defenses.  Also, he cannot implement the strategy of a barrage of fire because there are long-range HIMARS systems that destroy warehouses where the enemy has been stockpiling ammunition for his artillery.

We have a total number of HIMARS and MLRS launchers - 22 units of high-precision missile systems.  All these HIMARS and MLRS can launch 168 missiles in one salvo.  Each of these missiles has a range of 80 km and has individual guidance, with an accuracy of almost 1 meter.  Each missile is a separate destroyed enemy target.  HIMARS destroyed more than 50 enemy warehouses, as well as command posts, electronic warfare equipment and bridges.

The question of the number of HIMARS and MLRS is a derivative of how many missiles we will receive from the US. The new military aid package allows us to calculate the number of missiles we will receive from the United States.  If we subtract from this package 550 million of the cost of artillery ammunition, then the remaining amount will be within 400 million. In addition, the cost of one guided missile, depending on the type, is within 105 - 150 thousand, so we can count on what is in this package  we will receive about 3,000 missiles for the HIMARS and MLRS systems.This is a significant number because each missile has a clearly defined target that is destroyed.

Let me remind you that 50,000 missiles were manufactured in the USA for 2021, and the order for the current year in the USA is about 9,000 missiles. The production of these missiles is slow, when we look at our defense industry in the future, we have to raise questions about the participation of our defense industry in the production of high-precision weapons for HIMARS, and this will be an insurance option, which is logical for Ukraine in the future.

The enemy is looking for options to defend against HIMARS

For the first time, the US announced that aid would continue in the future.  And today, for the first time, Russia announced that the US is already involved in the conflict in Ukraine. The reason for such a strange statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was an interview of the deputy head of the main intelligence department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadym Skibitsky, to the British publication The Telegraph.  When asked by journalists of the publication about how it is possible to use HIMARS and MLRS so accurately against targets on the battlefield, Skibitskyi answered that they use information in real time, and then corrected himself and said that they use satellite data that they receive from partners, therefore clearly aware of the goals.  On the basis of the phrase "we use information in real time", Konashenkov (head of the information department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - ed.) made a comment that the Ukrainians receive data from US satellites, which means that the US is participating in hostilities and this imposes on them  responsibility. These statements by Konashenkov have nothing to do with influencing the course of hostilities, but we once again see that the enemy uses any opportunity to shake stability in approaches to the use of weapons.

In order to have an effective potential on the battlefield, it is necessary to have not only weapons, but also trained personnel. We trained our military in the U.S. and Germany.  HIMARS destroy enemy targets but do not clear the area.  This requires well-trained infantry. And here the initiative of Great Britain comesin, which undertook to train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, which is two full-fledged brigades, every three months.