They are considered a miracle weapon and provide Ukraine with important services in its fight against Putin’s troops: the American Himar rocket launchers. Military experts have now analyzed why the precision weapons are causing so much damage to Russian troops.
They are a nightmare for Putin’s troops. The Himars rocket launchers, with which Ukraine has been causing new problems for the Russian attackers for several weeks. The Ukrainian soldiers are firing at full steam with the multiple rocket launchers they received from the USA. In the east and south of their country now under Russian control, they blow up weapons and ammunition depots and fuel depots, but also target Russian-controlled airfields or bridges. They proudly show videos of targets going up in flames in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson regions. Images that, after almost five months of war, are intended to boost combat morale despite massive losses in their own ranks.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said the precision weapons “could make all the difference” in the fight against Russian attackers. Moscow reacted correspondingly angrily. They have caused Russia to reconsider its plans, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow’s “geographical objectives” would move even further away from the current front if the West continues to “armour” Ukraine, he warned.
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Military experts have now analyzed why the US rocket launchers are causing so much damage to the Russian troops. First, there’s the weapon system itself. It’s mounted on a vehicle, so it’s very mobile. After a salvo, it can be moved quickly, making it less vulnerable to a counterattack. The fired high-precision short-range ballistic missiles fly at a speed of around 3000 kilometers per hour.
They also fly very low, making it even more difficult for the defending side to defend against them. The missiles have a maximum range of around 300 kilometers. However, the US military has so far only supplied ammunition that can fly up to 80 kilometers. Because it is feared that Ukraine will also attack targets on Russian territory and thus provide Russia with an excuse to attack NATO targets.
Although the Himars have now been in use for several weeks, the Russian attackers have so far failed to locate and eliminate them in time, or to protect important infrastructure, such as weapons depots, from the missiles. The acclaimed war reporter for the Ukrainian news portal Kiev Independent (KI) attributes this to the inflexible and outdated strategy of the Russians: “Russia does not appear to be able to quickly deconcentrate its depots, which could save the ammunition in the occupied parts of Ukraine . The Russian military has stuck to the outdated Soviet approach of a hyper-centralized command and control system that allows for little initiative from middle and lower echelons.”
The Russian ammunition logistics is also outdated, there is no effective communication and automation, writes Illia Ponomarenko on KI. According to Russian military bloggers, it would be years before improvements could be made here. All of this makes it easier for the Ukrainian military to repeatedly poke the enemy with sensitive needles.
The Russian army could easily withdraw its ammunition depots from the front and bring them to the safe rear. After all, the Himars are very precise, but currently only have a range of around 80 kilometers. But such a withdrawal would only exacerbate the aforementioned logistical problems, says Ponomarenko. Another chance against the Himars would be offered to the Russians by air raids. However, according to Ponomarenko, Russian pilots’ fear of being shot down by Ukrainian air defenses has increased sharply in recent weeks. Therefore, according to his sources, the only realistic chance for Russian troops is if the Ukrainians fail to keep moving the Himars or if they give away their position.
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For Australian military expert Mick Ryan, from a Ukrainian point of view, there is another key factor that makes the Himars so enormously valuable; It allows Kiev’s troops to focus on their preferred war tactics. The strategy of corrosion and decomposition, which has often worked since the beginning of the war. “Using this strategy of corrosion, Ukraine has attacked the Russians where they are weak, while also using some of their fighting power to hold off the Russian combat troops.”
Referring to the first weeks of the war, Ryan writes: “The Ukrainians wore down the Russian forces – and eventually their morale – from within, forcing their humiliating retreat off Kyiv and Kharkiv.” to leave behind the battle of attrition into which they were drawn in the East. “They are again using the asymmetric conventional tactics in the east that they used so successfully around Kyiv and Kharkiv.”
For Ryan, this Ukrainian strategy of corrosion, recently endorsed by the Himars, shows how smart 21st-century military organizations must fight if they want to win. “The Ukrainians have shown themselves to be masters of corrosion in this war. They offer valuable lessons to Western military institutions for their own inevitable future struggles against authoritarian regimes.
But Ryan emphasizes: “Nevertheless, Himars is not a silver bullet. It is and will continue to be an important influence, but Himars alone will not win this war.”