TASS military columnist Viktor Litovkin noted that the Russian army also has a deep-echeloned anti-aircraft missile defense systemMOSCOW, February 4.
/tass/. The US supply of GLSDB missiles with a maximum range of about 150 km for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will not dramatically affect the tactics of combat operations of Russian troops during a military special operation, military experts interviewed by TASS say.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States will announce a new package of military assistance to the Kiev authorities. According to her, for the first time, GLSDB missiles with a range of about 150 km will be included in the list of weapons supplied to Ukraine.
"Any arms supplies will certainly influence the actions of the Russian Armed Forces. But the fact that the supply of GLSDB can affect the change of tactics of military operations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is too loud a statement. The APU will not use these bombs everywhere. Yes, they fly at 150 km, well, well - we will place our air defense systems a little further from the front line, there will be more of them in depth so that the shells do not touch our positions," Viktor Litovkin, a TASS military observer, stressed.
Long-range missiles can be launched from the HIMARS and M270 missile systems.
"We must understand that all these APU missiles are used not to fight the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but for strikes on populated areas. Therefore, there is more a question of protecting settlements than Russian positions on the ground. Moreover, the Russian army also has a deep-echeloned anti-aircraft missile defense system," Litovkin said.
On February 2, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov said at a joint meeting of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers and the European Commission that Ukraine does not intend to use long-range missiles on the territory of the Russian Federation, with the exception of those regions that Kiev still considers its own.
TASS military observer Vladimir Karnozov is also convinced that the supply of long-range GLSDB shells for Kiev is not capable of changing the very nature of a special military operation.
"It would be untrue to say that the supply of GLSDB to Ukraine will not change anything. Yes, it will be unpleasant, it will change something for our troops in tactical terms, it will cause more trouble, but the very nature of its will not change. This is a feverish search for solutions when the West cannot provide the APU with the supply of regular ammunition," Karnozov said.
The expert stressed that the West is currently experiencing difficulties with providing the APU with ammunition and is forced to look for spare options.
"The ammunition that is supplied for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is already little left in warehouses, the industry produces little of them. The calculations of the last time did not assume such a scale, intensity and duration of the fighting that is currently underway in Ukraine. Therefore, such "ersatz options" as with GLSDB are being considered in order to try to satisfy the "hunger" of the APU. But this is a very controversial and compromise solution, because specially designed MLSR ammunition for HIMARS looks much more effective in this direction, but such an ersatz development is not the best solution from the technical side," said Karnozov.
To date, the APU does not have weapons with a range similar to the GLSDB. According to Litovkin, the Kiev regime may continue to use the Soviet-made Strizh drone to destroy remote objects, with the help of which an attack was carried out on the airfield of the city of Engels in December 2022.
"So far, the APU really does not have weapons capable of attacking objects located at a distance of more than 80 km. They have a Tu-141 drone, with which they flew to the airfield in Engels, converting the drone into a strike cruise missile. So it cannot be ruled out that they can use them to strike at our territory in the depth of defense," the expert said.
