Russian air defense systems are "ineffective" against the HIMARS missiles that the United States is supplying to Ukraine, which becomes Moscow's concern
The US Department of Defense said that the weapons supplied to Ukraine have a significant impact on Kiev's war efforts against the Russian army.
The United States has provided Ukrainian forces with eight highly mobile artillery rocket systems, known as HIMARS, which allow the launch of multiple precision-guided missiles. It has pledged to send four additional similar systems .
These weapons can hit targets at a greater range than the M777 howitzers, which the United States also donated to Ukraine.
Since receiving these systems, Kyiv asserts that it has carried out a number of successful strikes against Russian forces.
A senior US defense official told a Pentagon news briefing that the weapons systems have "a significant impact on what is going on on the front lines" in Ukraine.
The official, who preferred not to be identified, said Ukrainian forces "spend a lot of time hitting targets such as ammunition, supplies, other logistics and command and control" which has a "direct impact on the ability to conduct front-line operations."
Ukraine said this week it had killed a Russian commander after HIMARS missiles hit a Russian command and control center in the southern Kherson region.
Kyiv also said Thursday that the HIMARS system was used to destroy a Russian ammunition depot in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the same area.
Meanwhile, the impact of the weapons on the battlefield was determined by a map of Ukraine by NASA's FIRMS fire tracking system that showed a sharp decrease in the number of fires caused by Russian bombing between July 8 and 12 as long-range strikes on Russian munitions depots were beneficial to Ukraine. .
A report published by "Newsweek" in this regard indicated that the impact of the weapons provided by the United States raised concern in Russia.
Igor Girkin, the former commander of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, also known as "Strelkov", wrote on Telegram that Ukraine's western weapons caused Russia to lose large numbers of troops and equipment.
He added this week that strikes targeted at least 10 large depots of artillery and other munitions. Oil depots and command centers were also bombed. He stressed that Russia's air defense systems are "ineffective" against HIMARS missiles.
ilitary analyst Michael Kaufman said that while the Himaris missiles have increased the ability of Ukrainian forces to target Russian logistical sites, he expects Russian forces to "begin to adapt and change the way they operate to make them less effective."
He added that their effectiveness would also be limited given the amount of ammunition that Ukraine could obtain to operate these systems.
"No matter how many batteries Ukraine receives from HIMARS, the issue of ammunition production will be, I believe, a permanent choke point," he continued.
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