The U.S. Is Doubling Ukraine’s HIMARS Rocket Launchers ... But There’s a Catch
The U.S. has earmarked another shipment of HIMARS rocket trucks to send to Ukraine.
HIMARS, with their precision-guided rockets, have proven spectacularly effective against Russian forces.
Unfortunately, the rocket-launching vehicles probably won’t arrive until after the war ends—one way or another.
The Pentagon is set to more than double Ukraine’s inventory of HIMARS rocket trucks as part of a new military aid package. The $1.1 billion package includes 18 HIMARS systems, which have wreaked havoc on Russian forces occupying Ukraine. There’s a catch, however: the rocket launchers are part of a future order and won’t reach the embattled country for some time.
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This new aid package, announced on September 28, also includes 150 Humvees, 150 tactical trucks for towing weapons, 22 radar systems, anti-drone weapons, communications equipment, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, and body armor.
Also in the package is “funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.” This likely applies not only to equipment in this round of aid, but also to previous rounds, especially those involved in the Ukrainian counter-offensives in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Although vague, this is an important line item that will grow larger over time as Ukraine’s stock of U.S. equipment increases.
The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a rocket-launcher mounted on a five-ton truck chassis. The rocket launcher can load up to six 227-millimeter (8.93 inches in diameter) GMLRS GPS-guided rockets. GLMRS has a range of 43.94 miles, and an average accuracy of 6.88 feet. Each rocket includes a 200-pound high-explosive warhead surrounded by 160,000 preformed tungsten fragments. HIMARS/GMLRS is in service with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.
The HIMARS/GMLRS dynamic duo is a major factor in the success of Ukraine’s twin counter-offensives. HIMARS trucks have used the country’s excellent road network to creep up near the border, unleash a hail of rockets at enemy targets, then retreat into the country’s interior. HIMARS targets have included ammo dumps, supply dumps, truck and armored vehicle concentrations, air defense units, Russian Army headquarters, and more.
HIMARS is especially credited with slowly reducing the number of Russian artillery shells fired each day. At its height, the Russian army and its proxy militias were firing up to 60,000 shells a day. HIMARS strikes on ammunition dumps have choked off the flow of artillery shells, resulting in fewer strikes. Other strikes have “hollowed out” Russia’s front line, preventing Russia from resupplying its forces with food, ammunition, and fuel, as well as degrading their command and control with strikes on headquarters. The resulting casualties, low morale, and paralysis have been major factors in Russia’s struggle to remain on the battlefield.
The bad news: unlike HIMARS already sent to Ukraine, which were drawn from existing U.S. military stocks, the 18 HIMARS vehicles are being ordered directly from the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. “The procurement and delivery of these HIMARS systems and associated ammunition will take a few years,” a Pentagon official stated last week. “Today's announcement is only the beginning of a procurement process.” The Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022 could well be over by then.
In other words, the HIMARS are for Ukraine’s postwar army. That’s not great when the need is right now, but there could be even more HIMARS transfers from Pentagon stocks in the future. In the meantime, look on the bright side: the Pentagon clearly thinks there will be a postwar Ukrainian army.
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