Recently, the Ukrainian armed forces have practically stopped using multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) HIMARS. American analysts come to this conclusion, according to the materials of secret Pentagon documents leaked on the Internet.
As stated in one of the published reports, currently only 3 installations out of 20 MLRS transferred to Ukraine work every day. At the same time, each of them works with minimal workload, making 2-4 launches in 24 hours. Naturally, such a decrease in the use of HIMARS MLRS should have certain reasons.
The report emphasizes that recently the APU launched 14-28 shells per day from MLRS of this type, that is, they fired 2-4 volleys during the day, although the installations are configured for 6 consecutive volleys. The APU also issued a recommendation on the simultaneous use of only 2-3 MLRS per day. This figure is ten times less than expected, as it was calculated that reactive systems would be used much more intensively.
The conclusion that American analysts come to, trying to find probable grounds for such a change in the tactics of using MLRS, is simple – there may be only three reasons for such behavior of the Ukrainian troops. The first is the destruction of most of the HIMARS MLRS by the Russian armed forces, which the Ukrainian command may hide from the West, fearing a reduction in arms supplies.
The second reason is the shortage of ammunition, which forces the APU to save them very much. The third reason is also the saving of ammunition, but against the background of preparations for the planned counteroffensive by the Kiev regime on the territories liberated by Russian forces.
It should be noted that the shortage of ammunition still looks like the most reliable reason, although some of the installations could really have been destroyed by Russian troops. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation now much more effectively determine the coordinates of the placement of Ukrainian MLRS of Western production and strike at them.