In recent days, information has been circulating that only four launchers of the American M142 HIMARS artillery missile system, which Ukraine should receive in the near future, is very small and will hardly affect anything.. However, even four HIMARS systems are a powerful contribution to strengthening the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the way to parity in the number of weapons with the invaders. We offer you an analysis of what, in the fire sense, four launchers are and what they need to destroy the enemy at full strength.
M142 HIMARS.
This artillery system weighs 18 tons. One block of six rockets for HIMARS / MLRS weighs an additional 2. 5 tons. HIMARS will shoot this two-ton “cassette” in just a few seconds. Accordingly, the system needs logistics debugged like a Swiss watch.
How military logistics works.
Weapons are delivered to Ukraine mainly from Poland. Military assistance to our state is sent to the city of Zheshov, and from there the weapons reach the territory of Ukraine by chosen and secret ways.. After that, the most difficult thing begins - you need to transport weapons to the front line across the territory of our state. Make it so that the enemy could not intercept and destroy the next batch. For three months, tons and thousands of Stingers, Javelins, rifles, body armor, helmets, cars, self-propelled guns, cannon artillery, tanks went through this process..
Now the command must arrange the delivery of missile blocks for HIMARS to the front line.
Block Producing Country - USA. Accordingly, the first stage is their delivery to Europe.. And even better - immediately to Rzeszow. One US Air Force C-5 Galaxy military transport aircraft can carry 140 tons of cargo or 56 blocks. Is it a lot? Only one system with a full combat load will work out this stock in 10-12 hours. At the same time, the flight and shipment of blocks to the launcher can last more than a day. In a war, such a " Therefore, the transportation of blocks should take place by sea, then move to European warehouses, and from the warehouses go to Rzeszow.
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A separate story - a journey of almost a thousand kilometers to the front line through the territory of Ukraine. Part of the way, of course, will be taken over by rail transport. But at least at the final stage, you need to transfer the blocks to the HIMARS system itself. The train won't go straight to the front. And the system will not “run” to the hub station for refueling. Hence, Ukraine needs HEMTTs (Heavy Tactical Support Trucks) to move these blocks.. And they need a lot. One truck can carry two blocks, or four if it has a trailer. This is 5-10 tons of ammunition or. 30 minutes of fire missions for HIMARS, subject to a reload time of 5 minutes (more in real combat). Just imagine how much technique and coordination is needed to fully load just one system..
The enemy is now trying with all his might to stop deliveries or destroy HIMARS systems and their ammunition during transportation across Ukraine. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop safe routes, move under cover, coordinate the actions and efforts of many different defense and civilian sectors.. It's not easy in peacetime. And during a full-scale war, such operations become very difficult and risky..
HIMARS can't fire on its own. Operators need to be trained.
The stated duration of training is three weeks.. Only after that, HIMARS on the front line will become not only a priority target for enemies, but also a terrible liberation weapon. In these only three weeks, our command must establish the entire logistics process described above so that it does not have a single weak point. For EACH of the combat vehicles, if they work on different sections of a wide front.
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Four HIMARS launchers is only the first tranche.
As soon as ensuring the uninterrupted fire operation of the four systems has been worked out, the United States will have reason to increase the number of HIMARS launchers. An example is the initial dissatisfaction of the Ukrainians with the fact that only eighteen M777 howitzers were handed over to us.. To date, only at the official level, it has been stated that 108 guns have arrived in Ukraine. And the increase continues. The same awaits us with HIMARS launchers.. The USA is not Germany - it keeps its word and supplies the declared weapons with lightning speed.
What four HIMARS launchers can do.
Four launch systems, for which logistics support has been fully established, can “press to the ground” the entire northeastern front. And in order to dispel the last doubts, here is a clear illustration of what territory even one HIMARS is able to quickly turn into “plowed scorched earth”. Undoubtedly, only with full logistics support.
Therefore, of course, four installations in wartime are risky little due to the expected active opposition of the enemy: counter-battery artillery, and aviation in Russia has not yet disappeared anywhere. Accordingly, they always take into account that part of the weapons will be lost from the counterattacks of the invaders. And two destroyed machines from 4 systems are huge losses. And two cars from the 44s is a loss that can be restored without losing control over the front line and rear of the enemy.
Therefore, naturally, the Ukrainian authorities should work to ensure that the supply of weapons for the needs of the war does not stop, but only grows.. However, even four “run-in” systems have such a combat potential that can actually lead to rapid parity, and then an advantage in firepower with the Russian Federation..
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Recall that British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that his country will transfer to Ukraine the M270 MLRS, which can hit targets at a distance of up to 80 km with high-precision missiles..