"Not achievement, but total disgrace": After 20 months of hunting Russia destroys first HIMARS in Ukraine

Ukrainian journalists keep asking: what's going to happen? Nothing.

Well, Russia destroyed the M142 HIMARS and what? That's war. In war, equipment burns, breaks down, the enemy seizes it. All sorts of things happen, Ukrainian military observer Oleksandr Kovalenko explains.

He is convinced that its destruction by Russian troops is not an achievement, but a disgrace to the Russian military. And here's why.

M142 HIMARS is not a unique, invulnerable weapon. It is a standard MLRS vehicle for a number of NATO countries, with high accuracy of target engagement and a range of 80 kilometres.

In the Soviet army, and then in the Russian and Ukrainian, MLRS vehicles are:

122-mm BM-21 Grad (with a firing range of 30-40 km)
220-mm BM-27 Uragan (30-40 kilometres)
300-mm BM-30 Smerch (70-120 kilometres).

A special place in this hierarchy was held by the Ukrainian Vilkha rocket projectile for the 300-mm BM-30 Smerch, with astonishing accuracy and a range of over 120 km.

In other words, the M142 HIMARS is a Western analogue of the BM-27 and BM-30, superior to the Soviet models in accuracy, but inferior in range. At the same time, the Vilkha is similar to the M142 HIMARS in accuracy, but superior in range. The downside is that it was not put into mass production in time.... But that's not the point.

"Russia destroyed the first M142 HIMARS in 20 months. I repeat — this MLRS has been operating in Ukraine for 20 MONTHS. And how many Russian BM-27 and BM-30 were destroyed during the war in Ukraine?" the expert asks.

According to verified data, 80 BM-27 and 2 BM-30. In addition to them, the destruction of 22 TOS-1A Solntsepyok and 245 BM-21 Grad was also verified.

According to the data of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russian losses of the MLRS systems over the 2 years of the war exceeded 1,100 units.

That is, the first M142 HIMARS lost in 20 months and hundreds of similar Russian MLRSs.

"No, this is not an achievement, it is a total disgrace. But Russians are such people that they manage to be proud of even the most grotesque disgrace. Maybe they should also establish a public holiday in honour of the destruction of the M142 HIMARS?" Kovalenko concludes.