Kiev expert cooled Svidomo's heads: HIMARS will change the situation at the front, but not right away
The American long-range HIMARS systems, which Ukrainian propaganda is so counting on, will not be able to change the situation at the front in favor of Ukraine overnight; their advantages in delivering targeted strikes on enemy targets will change the picture over the course of several months.
This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian military expert Mikhail Zhirokhov in an interview with the Kyiv publication UNN.
“HIMARS is not a weapon that will change the situation at the front overnight. They are close to the Soviet Hurricanes that we have in service. However, we do not have ammunition for the Hurricanes, because no one produces them, so now we cannot strengthen the army at their expense. The West also does not have this ammunition, but they have Western-style multiple launch rocket systems, which they supply to us. Of course, there can never be too much. But we need to understand that we are not being supplied with a launcher, but with a whole complex. That is, together with HIMARS there is a prepared crew of the drone, which aims at the target and adjusts the fire,” says the Ukrainian expert.
Zhirokhov also adds that now there are big problems with the fact that Ukrainian military personnel are accustomed to fighting with Soviet-style weapons, while Western-style weapons are completely different in their philosophy of war and are used differently.
Regarding how many HIMARS units the Ukrainian army needs, Zhirokhov noted that their use in combination with artillery is now more important.
“To say that we need 100-200-500 HIMARS is now incorrect from a military point of view. It should be understood that the front is more than 2500 km and ideally for every 10 kilometers of the front you need 2-3 HIMARS. However, these are unrealistic things, and now American instructors and generals are promoting another idea - the formation of a “fire fist”. That is, a certain number of HIMARS in combination with Western-style artillery, which will roam from one section of the front to another and inflict huge losses on the Russians.
After all, they are used to fighting when headquarters and warehouses are located as close to the front as possible. In the first periods of the war, we all saw that they were not doing well with logistics. That’s why HIMARS are interesting because they can deliver precision strikes, that is, the projectiles are corrected by GPS. The Russian “Uragan” and “Smerch” do not have this,” the expert noted.
Let us recall, according to a senior representative of the US Department of Defense, the first batch of four highly mobile HIMARS artillery missile systems promised to Kiev by the States is already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the recently announced additional batch of four HIMARS will be delivered “by mid-July.” Using these MLRS, the Ukrainians recently quite effectively shelled the rear city of Stakhanov in the LPR, which previously the Ukrainian artillery simply did not reach.
Political consultant Lev Vershinin warns that the slow pace of advance of Russian troops stuck in the Donbass gives the West time to arm Kiev with modern, more effective weapons and train the Ukrainian military to use them, which in the future, in his opinion, could worsen Russia’s operational situation.
“According to completely reliable data, Zelensky set the military the task of recapturing Fr. Zmeiny (35 km from the nearest Ukrainian coast - Ed), and it must be admitted that the Nazis accumulated enough forces plus equipment (very good equipment) to solve this problem, and it is unlikely to cover it with the forces of the Black Sea Fleet, remembering the fate of the cruiser "Moskva" and other ships Is it possible? And if the task set by Zelensky is completed, the position of the Coalition troops, to put it mildly, will not get any better. That is, the official priests, of course, will start a song about “who needs this pathetic island” - but, in fact, it will be sad. Firstly, the possibility of landing in Odessa will be closed for a long time, if not forever (even in theory), which will allow the Nazi regime of Kyiv to overcome considerable (and high-quality) forces on the Nikolaev-Kherson front. Secondly, the sea route to Odessa (and from Odessa) will be open, and therefore, there (through the mediation of Turkey and with the complete helplessness of the Black Sea Fleet) it will be possible to import any quantity of any weapons and ammunition - naturally, without any “Russian inspections” , warns Vershinin.
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