The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a truck-mounted rocket launcher, has wreaked havoc on Russian positions far behind the front lines, destroying command posts and ammunition depots, according to US and Ukrainian military officials. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in televised remarks on Monday that his country’s forces have used the missile system to destroy more than 50 Russian ammunition depots since taking them over from the US last month. Reports from commanders on the ground suggest they played a role in halting Russia’s advance in the Donbas region. The first HIMARS were delivered to Ukraine in June, at a time when Ukrainian forces were suffering heavy losses in Donbas. The Pentagon announced the delivery of four more systems on Friday, bringing the total to 16. The US has also trained about 200 Ukrainians to operate them. HIMARS enables Ukrainian forces to fire rockets faster and more accurately than ever before. The truck-mounted launchers fire GPS-guided missiles that can hit targets 50 miles away. The trucks they are fired from are agile and difficult to track, making them difficult for Russia to destroy. Their success has been touted by both Ukrainian and American military leaders. At a Pentagon briefing with reporters last week, a senior US defense official said the Ukrainians were “using very precise, very precise targeting of critical Russian positions with their HIMARS.” A senior US military official, at the same briefing, called HIMARS “the most hunted things in all of Ukraine” because of their effectiveness in disrupting Russian operations. “Ukrainians are good. Right now they have a really significant effect on the Russians’ ability to prosecute businesses,” the official told the Independent. “The Ukrainians have focused a lot of effort [targeting] Russian command and control, their logistical supply areas, to include all kinds of supply categories, particularly ammunition,” they added. Attacks on command centers have been particularly damaging to Russia’s current offensive in southeastern Ukraine, the official added. “We know from the way the Russians fight that they need someone to tell them what to do. When you are able to kill the people who tell them what to do, you can stop those people from moving forward. And we continue to see that,” the official said. “We are seeing signs that the Russians are trying to adjust for the effect HIMARS is having on them,” they added. Since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24 this year, the supply of Western weapons has been vital to Ukraine’s defense. During the battle for the capital Kyiv, when Russian ground forces made repeated attempts to encircle the city and decapitate the Ukrainian government, it was the American-made Javelin and the British light anti-tank weapon (NLAW) that helped trend reversal. . The United States has so far sent about $8.2 billion worth of weapons and support to Ukraine (AFP/Getty) When Russia abandoned its push on Kyiv and concentrated all its forces in the southeast, trying instead to seize the Donbas region, it again had an advantage. The battle was dominated by artillery, for which Russia had more sophisticated systems and ammunition. Ukrainian casualties rose rapidly. In early June, a senior aide to Ukraine’s president, Mykhailo Podolyak, told the BBC that between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in The front line of Donbas every day. That changed when the first HIMARS mission arrived in Ukraine. Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and a former US Marine who tracks Russian equipment losses, described HIMARS as an “extremely accurate weapon system” that played a key role in reducing Russia’s artillery advantage. “There is less risk of being targeted by Russian artillery because you can operate it at night, you don’t have to have [unmanned aerial vehicles] to observe the target and you can make an assessment afterwards,” he told the Independent. The first video of HIMARS in action in Ukraine was released on June 24, he said. Since then, videos of ammunition depots hit by HIMARS have been “an almost daily occurrence,” he added. “The Ukrainians said the Russians were firing much less artillery ammunition as a result. This reduction gives Ukrainian ground forces a better chance to defend their positions,” he said. The result is that “there haven’t been many obstacles to Russian gains” over the past three weeks, Mr Li added. The question that remains is whether HIMARS will be enough for Ukraine to launch a counterattack. Mr. Reznikov said in a video presentation to the Atlantic Council earlier this month that his forces would need dozens more to achieve that goal. “For an effective counterattack, we need at least 100,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “That would be a game changer.” The United States has so far sent about $8.2 billion (£6.8 billion) in arms and support to Ukraine during the administration of President Joe Biden. The latest package includes about $175m (£146m) in equipment drawn from existing US military stockpiles, the Pentagon said on Friday. While Ukrainian officials are currently clamoring for HIMARS and other similar systems, Mr Li says they may find themselves adapting to yet another change in environment if Ukraine is to go on the offensive. “It’s important to keep in mind that there are no miracle weapons. HIMARS has been very effective in the last month, but Russia will adapt,” he said. To gain ground, he added, Ukraine will require a new set of skills and equipment. “Tanks are needed, they are needed [unmanned aerial vehicles] they need enough artillery ammunition, they need to be able to suppress targets, and units must be trained well enough to conduct combined arms operations.’ “HIMARS alone is not enough,” he added. “You need other ingredients to effectively run an offensive operation.”
