According to a report by Global Network reprinted by the Russian Satellite News Agency on June 25, in view of the good battlefield performance of the M142 "Haimas" rocket launchers supported by the United States, the U.S. Pentagon is considering providing Ukraine with four more sets of "Haimas" high-mobility rocket launchers. Multiple rocket launcher systems as the next batch of military aid. If necessary, the United States will continue to provide more "Haimas" rocket launchers .
The main reason why the United States has proposed to continue to increase its long-range rocket artillery assistance to Ukraine is that the situation on the battlefield in Donbass, Ukraine, has suddenly reversed recently. The Russian army has launched a full-scale attack on the Ukrainian army’s defense line. At present, the Ukrainian army has moved from its last stronghold in the Lugansk region. Severodonetsk retreated, while the Russian army almost surrounded Lischichansk from the flanks and rear. Seeing that the Lugansk area is about to be completely controlled by the Russian army.
Previously, the United States and its allies provided approximately 100 M777A2 howitzers to Ukraine, which lacked long-range strike capabilities and average battlefield performance.
The range of these 155mm ultra-light howitzers is generally about 25 kilometers, and artillery rarely fires at the maximum range. The commonly used range is about two-thirds of the maximum range of ordinary grenades , plus the howitzer position is far away from the front line There are still about 5 kilometers, so the Ukrainian army's M777A2 howitzer can only hit the Russian army's targets more than 10 kilometers deep. Such a strike distance is not even as good as the Russian army's active heavy artillery .
At the beginning, the outside world thought that after the US-made M777A2 howitzer was delivered to the Ukrainian army, it would bring greater pressure to the Russian army. However, after the arrival of this batch of M777A2 howitzers, it was discovered that it was a "monkey version" of the artillery . The standard digital reconnaissance-command-fire control system used by the US military was completely removed, and only the basic traditional optical aiming and The fire control system has average range, firepower and protection, and cannot display its original advanced performance at all.
M777A2 is an ultra-light howitzer developed in accordance with the US military's tactical thinking. The overall design is very good, and the theoretical performance is very advanced. But there is also a very huge problem (this problem also exists with the introduction of the M777A2 Indian Army ). Without the strong support of the advanced artillery fire control system and not enough helicopters for mobile lifting, it seems powerful. The M777A2 can only be a 155mm towed howitzer with extremely ordinary performance, and it is a towed howitzer with relatively weak firepower and poor combat performance.
Since the Ukrainian army can only deploy M777A2 howitzers close to the front line, this also allows the technical reconnaissance force of the Russian artillery to easily detect these M777A2 howitzers and destroy them in one fell swoop. At present, the Russian army claims to have destroyed nearly 20 M777A2 howitzers.
The M142 "Haimas" high-mobility rocket launcher has very powerful long-range strike capabilities. The M142 "Haimas" rocket launcher provided by the United States to Ukraine is equipped with two types of ammunition. One is an ordinary M-26 rocket with a range of 42 kilometers and is equipped with a multi-purpose submunition warhead. The second is the M30 GMLRS extended-range guided rocket, with a range of 70 kilometers. It adopts a combined inertial + GPS guidance system and has a terminal strike accuracy of meter level.
"Haimas" rocket launcher + GMLRS extended-range guided rocket will give the Ukrainian army unprecedented artillery precision strike capabilities. However, the long-range rocket launcher has a very long range, but requires a corresponding artillery long-range reconnaissance and target designation system to exert its long-range strike power. So the Pentagon publicly announced that it would make the Ukrainian army's long-range rocket launchers hit every target.
Americans have publicly called out Russia. The United States can not only provide Ukraine with M142 "Haimas" high-mobility rocket launchers, but also provide long-range target instructions for the Ukrainian army, which can be used for precise strikes of rocket launchers . The Ukrainian army must The long-range rocket launcher hits every target.
A few days ago, Colin Kahl, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense for military policy affairs, said: "Although the Russian artillery firepower far exceeds the Ukrainian artillery, the Ukrainian army does not need to compete with the Russian army in terms of firepower. The Ukrainian army can fight more accurate."
Colin Carr said that the United States plans to provide the Ukrainian army with real-time dynamic intelligence on important Russian targets. This time-sensitive information will allow the Ukrainian army to more accurately use Seamus rocket launchers to attack Russian targets. The U.S. reconnaissance force will Share Russian target information with the Ukrainian army so that the Ukrainian army can quickly make the best attack plan.
Not only the "Haimas" rocket launcher, the US military's long-range target instructions can also be used for other long-range artillery firepower of the Ukrainian army. The Russian military has deep fuel depots , ammunition depots , weapons depots and headquarters and other high-value targets.
Currently, the United States and NATO have a large number of military reconnaissance satellites in space, as well as commercial satellites, including optical survey and detailed survey satellites. Synthetic aperture radar satellites, electronic reconnaissance satellites , these satellites can conduct reconnaissance day and night, and can also take a large number of photos through clouds, provide information about the Russian army to the Ukrainian army, and use it as an intelligence source to search for Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. Important target.
A few days ago, the Ukrainian army used long-range artillery to attack the headquarters of the 1st Combined Army of the Donetsk local armed forces. In addition, the Ukrainian side also released footage of using long-range firepower to attack a Russian command post, which was said to be a long-range rocket launcher. It hit the headquarters of the Russian 20th Army in an abandoned school in Izyum, but it has not yet been confirmed.
However, the information competition between the United States and Russia on the battlefield is not one-sided. Since the war began, the Russian army has also quickly learned how to attack. To survive and take the initiative on the battlefield, for example, when interfering with and countering U.S. synthetic aperture radar reconnaissance satellites and E8 "Joint Stars" battlefield control aircraft, the Russian military has active interference and extensive deployment of corner reflectors and other methods. Therefore, whose artillery can gain battlefield advantage depends not only on the performance of the artillery, but also on the tactical level of the artillery.
