Why the Ukrainian army uses HIMARS in tandem with "Hurricanes"
The APU is beginning to use the HIMARS system. It was from these systems that Lugansk was hit on the night of July 13, and the city of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region was shelled earlier. What tactics are used by the Ukrainian military when using HIMARS and how it is possible to resist this system - in the material of "Gazeta.Ru».
According to open sources, the United States managed to supply Ukraine with eight mobile launchers on a HIMARS wheeled chassis. Four more such installations are expected to be delivered. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry notes that two HIMARS installations have already been destroyed.
The M142 HIMARS, which was delivered to Ukraine, is a universal launcher that can carry either six 240-mm rockets (a 227-mm projectile with a reduced firing range is also used), or one ATACMS tactical missile. MLRS projectiles, both guided and unguided, have a firing range of up to 45 km, and in the variant of the GMLRS M30 rocket - up to 70 km.
"The subtlety lies in the fact that HIMARS can be equipped with tactical missiles. There are six modifications, they have a different firing range - from 140 to 300 km," he told the newspaper.En" retired RVSN Major General Valery Popov. However, it has not yet been officially reported on the supply of ATACMS Block 1A, the general stressed.
It is noteworthy that American President Joe Biden initially publicly doubted the need for the supply of "long-range weapons" to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, realizing that even its hypothetical use on the territory of Russia could lead to an escalation of the conflict, which would directly affect NATO countries in Europe.
President Vladimir Zelensky also spoke about this, claiming that he was not going to "transfer the war to Russia." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that Moscow "does not trust the words of the President of Ukraine."
"The APU is now using the following tactics - they open fire at night. The Ukrainian military disguises their means of long-range fire damage and takes them to combat positions for a short time, carries out shelling and immediately tries to get away with it. They don't always succeed, but "volatile batteries" sometimes achieve their effect," he told the newspaper.En" military expert Gennady Alekhine.
The expert noted that the peculiarity of the shelling also lies in the fact that the Ukrainian army often fires at unprotected objects where there are no missile defense and air defense systems of the Russian army.
"By itself, the American HIMARS missile system is quite vulnerable to missile defense means. It has subsonic speed, low enough maneuverability," he told the newspaper.En" military expert Boris Jerelievsky.
At the same time, the APU, the expert stressed, began to use a combined version of the use of American missiles: first they launch shells of Soviet Hurricane jet systems, and after them they use HIMARS.
"The calculation of distraction and spraying of anti-aircraft systems. Sometimes it works. They, for example, give a simultaneous volley from HIMARS and the old "Hurricane" system. As a result, a certain number of anti-aircraft missiles of Russian missile defense systems are spent on intercepting Uragan shells, while some of the HIMARS shells reach their targets," added Jerelievsky.
The first experience of combat use of M142 HIMARS systems took place in 2010 in Afghanistan and was not entirely successful - two missiles hit the homes of civilians, after which the use of the system was temporarily suspended. They partially "rehabilitated" themselves in Syria by delivering a targeted strike on a battalion group of Syrian government troops.
"The Russian army, faced with a new type of weapons that have appeared in Ukraine, applies counteraction measures. There is a recipe against American HIMARS in Ukraine. This is the Tornado-S jet system.
This is due to the fact that these MLRS are still used by the Ukrainian army quite rarely," said Sergei Belousov, a member of the Board of Military Experts.
Victor Sokirko
