Opinion: Australia should consider speeding up its procurement of the HIMARS rocket artillery systems now in use in Ukraine, writes military strategist Mick Ryan
. It is a lighter, more deployable version of an older tracked launcher that used the same rockets. HIMARS fires rockets in either six round configurations, with a range of 80 kilometres, or a longer-range single missile that can hit targets out to 300 km. And because it is mobile, it can shoot and move quickly, making it a very survivable platform in an era of short times between detection and destruction.
Of note, the Ukrainians so far have only been provided with the shorter-range 80 km rockets. But they have been quick to use them in the war since their provision by the Americans just a few weeks ago.It appears that more than a dozen major Russian supply depots, primarily used to store artillery ammunition, have been attacked by the long range HIMARS rockets in the past few days.
Additionally, many Russian supply depots, located close to railways, are also proximate to civilian towns. The greater accuracy of the HIMARS permits the Ukrainians to minimise collateral damage in their long-range attacks on Russian targets. has noted, being an ammunition handler in a logistic depot is probably now the least desirable job in the Russian army. These psychological impacts have a cost on the effectiveness of a military organisation.So, HIMARS is changing the character of the fight in Ukraine. It is allowing the Ukrainians to target the Russians at greater distance and in areas that have been denied to them because of Russian air defence systems.
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