HS analysis The United States may supply Ukraine with rocket launchers familiar to Finns, which could reverse the course of the war

Ukraine has requested a news channel CNN’s according to the United States some time ago heavy rocket launchers that could play a role in the outcome of the war in Ukraine. According to CNN sources, the president Volodymyr Zelenskyi has been asking for throwers for several weeks now.

According to Ukrainian sources, the Pentagon’s response has always been that “we are considering it.” United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin commented to reporters on Monday in Washington that he would not comment on unfinished deliveries.

“I am full of these ‘we are considering’ answers to my ears,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday in Kiev. “I want to hear that‘ clear ’or that‘ doesn’t work ’. We need guns, guns and once again guns. ”

Ukraine The first on the request list is the M 270 MLRS rocket launcher, which is familiar to Finns. In second place is the younger version of this projector M 142 Himars. The cartridge of the previous launcher can be loaded with 12 rockets and two missiles at a time, the latter with six rockets or alternatively one missile.

It is the missiles that seem to be of concern to Americans, as the ATACMS artillery missile used by the launchers has a range of 300 kilometers. Ukraine could therefore fire targets on the Russian side if it so wishes. The opponents’ argument is therefore the fear of the war escalating.

On the same basis but circulating, the Pentagon refused in March Poland’s proposal that Poland have supplied Ukraine with old Mig-29 fighter jets and replaced them with new aircraft from the United States.

However, CNN sources said U.S. politicians would be inclined to deliver rocket launchers. Britain is known to be ready to supply the same equipment as long as the United States makes its own decision first.

London and Washington are apparently coming to the conclusion that these weapons can save Ukraine from the scandal in the Donbass.

Hundreds the importance of missiles fired from miles away in the war in Ukraine has diminished. Russia’s war of aggression stalled in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine as early as April in an artillery battle that Zelenskyi called a week ago to hell. Russia has increased the power of its attack and is trying to become the ruler of the industrial cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk at all costs.

According to news agencies, the city of Lyman, which had been fighting for weeks, fell into Russian hands on Friday. The fall of Severodonetsk, the second largest city in the Luhansk region, seems to be a matter of time.

The next turn to conquer would be the neighboring town of Lysythansk, after which the attacker would continue to advance northwest through Bahmut on the highway line of the M03. At the same time, the Russians are working to advance from the south and north to cut off connections to the west of the Kramatorsk region.

Rocket launchers became the main weapon of both sides in the war in eastern Ukraine as early as 2014. The most common sight in the area was a Grad rocket launcher placed on the stage of a military version of an old Ural truck. In late 2014, however, Russia dragged the area of ​​the Donetsk “People’s Republic” to full of artillery, and more artillery batteries firing tens of kilometers away have been brought into the area.

Closer to the front, rocket launchers are still in constant use. The most obvious end is the Tos-1 projectiles used by the Russians, which fire thermobaric ammunition. One blow to the “organ pipeline” wreaks havoc on an acre of land and people become more distant patients beyond. Finnish Soldier in a recent article called the new versions of the Tos system a “Russian breakthrough weapon”.

Ukraine probably won’t crave American rocket launchers primarily to fire missiles. In the current combat situation, ammunition capable of destroying an opponent’s weapon systems from a distance of a few tens of kilometers would be needed. The history of Finnish rocket launchers also refers to the same.

Finland In 2007, the Finnish Defense Forces procured 22 used M 270 MLRS rocket launchers from the Netherlands. The device, developed by the United States and its European allies, had been discontinued as early as 2003, when Western Allies believed that traditional warfare was a thing of the past. The Finnish army, which was skeptical of this belief, made bargains.

Initially, it was planned to buy ATACMS missiles for new launchers, but in 2014, the Defense Forces announced the cancellation of missile sales due to the high price of missiles. GMLRS precision missiles flying 80 kilometers away were acquired for the farm. They were first tested in Rovajärvi on December 1, 2018, the aviation news site reports Airmail.

In February, the Finnish Defense Forces decided to order a new version of the missiles with a range of 150 kilometers, says ground forces bulletin. The order also includes an area-based AW version of the missile, with an airborne warhead causing deadly destruction over a wide area.

Manufacturer Lockheed Martin claims the rocket is “the first ammunition developed to serve regional targets without the impact of unexploded ordnance”. In other words, the projectile would be in line with the 2008 Dublin Treaty banning cluster munitions.

Neither Finland, Ukraine, the United States nor Russia has ratified the Dublin Agreement. However, the disapproval of more than 100 signatory countries and international organizations has, in practice, limited the use of cluster munitions to at least some extent.