Using HIMARS against Russian air defense opens way for Ukrainian aviation - Serhiy Zgurets 

HIMARS against Russian air defense

On the night of July 12 to 13, Ukrainian forces used HIMARS against Russian air defense facilities located in Luhansk. To date, Ukraine has destroyed warehouses, fuel stockpiles, command posts, and ammunition, which has forced Russian troops to halt their activities.

Looking at the statistics, we can compare the activity of the enemy's actions with the use of their means on July 8 and July 12. And we can visually see how minimized the enemy's actions are after his formations are destroyed.

On July 8, we see red dots - these are the marks where the enemy carried out attacks on our cities, and on July 12 - there are already much fewer objects that Russia is trying to bombard with artillery.  Russia has no ammunition, because the stocks that were pulled up to the skirmish line exploded.

The use of HIMARS against Russian air defense targets opens a new page in the use of American MLRS. This is important, because the destruction of the air defense system opens the way for the active work of our aviation against enemy ground targets. If this trend continues, it creates the conditions for control of a significant space.

In the south, Russia is pulling air defense equipment, because HIMARS work against Russian air defense systems, so this potential will be minimized. And then we will be able to proceed to the destruction of platoon strongholds or other objects that Russia will build on Ukrainian territory, trying to defend the occupied positions. The use of HIMARS is a good example.

Next meeting in Ramstein format will take place on July 20

We are preparing for the fact that in the near future there will be an increase in the provision of military assistance to us. We will understand this at the meeting of defense ministers in Ramstein, which is to be held online on July 20. Each such meeting is a turning point where defense ministers listen to Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov and determine each country's capabilities to meet Ukraine's needs and then plan supplies.

The list of our wishes remains unchanged - it is an increase in the number of artillery systems, high-precision means of impression, ammunition for these systems. We need armored vehicles, counter-battery radars, drones and reconnaissance assets. We really need this whole package. The number of our defense forces is significant, within 700 thousand, but not all military units can start combat operations, because some units wait almost a month for the arrival of foreign howitzers in order to become combat-ready units.

We have already received about 400,000 shells for 155 mm artillery. This is 7-8 times more than the stock of ammunition that the Soviet 152 mm systems had at the beginning of the active phase of the war.  Ammunition-related assistance is significant and allows us to stabilize the enemy's firepower.

The situation will change if we get even more HIMARS and long-range missiles with a range of 300 km to the combat set of these systems. This discussion continues, foreign experts and American politicians say that Ukraine should get systems with a range of 300 km. We will see whether this decision will be made in Ramstein.

In the American press, a discussion is starting, which is related to whether the capabilities of the defense industry of Europe and the USA are generally sufficient to meet the needs of Ukraine. There are conclusions that the American and European defense industries are trying to switch to military rails and intensify the production of new military equipment.

New and old equipment enters Ukraine.  Currently, the Ukrainian marines are mastering the British Mastiff armored vehicles. We will receive about 80 vehicles that have a high level of anti-mine protection, each armored vehicle carries eight soldiers and our marines have positively assessed the capabilities of the equipment received from Great Britain.