One ​​of Ukraine's most powerful allies is the United States of America. It is this country that gives us a lot of the latest technology, which has a positive impact on the results of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Together with the courageous brand Kozatska RadaChannel 24 launched a series of materials “Weapons of Victory”. As part of a special project, we talk about equipment that helps the Armed Forces of Ukraine defend Ukraine. In particular, about the American installations already in our arsenal.

But as long as Western partners send another aid, everyone has the opportunity to support Ukrainian defenders and defenders. Kozatska Rada offers to join the initiative “Donate for the victory!”

To become a participant in a charity event, you need to purchase your favorite brand products and register a code with an excise stamp on site. After that, you will automatically donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because Kozatska Rada transfers 10 hryvnias from the purchase to the Turn Back Alive fund.

Everyone on his front helps to resist the enemy. And the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thanks to the American M142 HIMARS, are actively destroying Russian ammunition depots, which terrifies the invaders. What this powerful and accurate MLRS is capable of – we tell in the material.

The history of the creation and use of HIMARS

Lockheed Martin specialists worked on the creation of this MLRS. This is an American corporation specializing in aircraft construction. Lockheed Martin engineers today manufacture F-class aircraft. However, they also have a division that develops and modernizes ground military equipment.

The creation of the M142 HIMARS began back in the mid-1990s, and already at the beginning of the “zero” MLRS passed all the necessary tests to be put into service with the US Army. Since that time, the launcher has participated in almost all confrontations where the US military has been: Afghanistan, Iraq, campaigns in the Persian Gulf and Syria.

HIMARS is already in service Ukraine/Photo by the US Department of Defense

Since 2022, with the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, these MLRS have been working for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In just one month of using HIMARS, our defenders and defenders destroyed about a hundred Russian warehouses and headquarters. And this significantly affected the provision of the army of the invaders and complicated their logistics processes at the front. HIMARS is a high-precision and highly mobile missile system designed to destroy enemy concentration areas, air defense systems, heavy armored vehicles and warehouses.

In Ukraine, it is most often used for strikes on the rear in the temporarily occupied territories. Thanks to their accuracy, power and efficiency, such weapons give our military the opportunity to move forward.

This “beast” weighs a little more than 16 tons. Its dimensions are also quite rather big: 7 meters in length, more than 3 meters in height and almost 2.5 meters in width. Despite the fact that this MLRS is quite large, it is also very fast and maneuverable. The engine can accelerate it to 85 kilometers per hour, while the power reserve is half a thousand kilometers!

The range of defeat is also incredible: from 80 to 300 kilometers! It depends on the ammunition flying out of the launcher.

HIMARS – high-precision MLRS/Photo by the US Department of Defense

To maintain such a system, you need only only three people: driver, operator and gunner.

HIMARS Capabilities

The range of using HIMARS depends on what shells the operators of this complex have. The usual standard ammunition is M30/31 GMLRS rockets. They fire in a salvo of 6 shells at a distance of up to 80 kilometers. And that's just in a minute!

Guided rockets are also made by Lockheed Martin. Their manufacturability ensures uncompromising accuracy.

What are HIMARS in combat: watch the video

If a range of 70-80 km is no longer enough, that is, the target is at a greater distance, the system can be loaded with missiles of another class. True, the M142 HIMARS can launch only one such missile, and then needs to be reloaded.

In particular, the MGM-140 ATACMS – a nearly 4-meter rocket – takes off from the launcher at a speed of 1500 meters per second and easily overcomes a distance of 300 kilometers. If the M30/31 is intended for heavy equipment and fortified positions, then with the help of ATACMS, almost any fortification or shelter will collapse from impact like a house of cards.

This rocket, by the way, has five modifications. They have different warhead and range. But if 300 kilometers is still a taboo for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then missiles of 165 kilometers are a very real possibility.

However, these are not all the advantages of HIMARS. With the help of the American MLRS, you can hit the enemy at a distance of five hundred kilometers. All thanks to the experimental missile Precision Strike Missile. This is already a very serious weapon, but no one except the United States has it.

HIMARS vs Grad: what is the difference between MLRS in the arsenals of Ukraine and Russia

The biggest advantage of the M142 HIMARS is its accuracy. Digital systems can independently determine their position in space, which allows you to quickly aim at the target. And it takes less than 1 minute, which is pretty fast, as for the MLRS. The missiles themselves, leaving the launcher, are controlled by satellite navigation. It is hard enough to intercept the projectile, so it is guaranteed to hit the target.

The accuracy is so surgical that one missile punches a hole 80 kilometers away, and another can hit the same hole. This is what the Ukrainian military says, already effectively destroying Russian targets on the battlefield. In order to understand the scale of accuracy: the Soviet Grad MLRS, which the Russians use today, has a deviation radius of 1 kilometer. The accuracy of M142 HIMARS is up to 1 meter.

In addition, Soviet MLRS require reliable installation at pre-prepared positions, have a limited range of use (approximately 40 kilometers, if we talk about Grad), and operators independently calculate the trajectory projectile flight and target coordinates.

For the M142 HIMARS, this is not a problem at all. After all, the ballistic computer does these calculations on its own. The launch can be carried out from any position, in any weather or time of day.

HIMARS have many times better performance than the Soviet “Grads”/Photo by the US Department of Defense

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Of course, such equipment as the M142 HIMARS greatly simplifies the work of our military and helps to effectively destroy the targets of the invaders. By the way, the deployment time of the American MLRS is less than a minute. Another 60 seconds will be needed to release the entire volley and just as quickly leave the firing position. In these few minutes, the enemy will not have time to recover, or direct his systems, and even more so – to return a volley.

“Haimars”, “Bayraktars” and “Javelins” in the masterful hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine every day bring our victory closer to front. Feel its taste now thanks to the courageous brand Kozatska Rada with an indestructible Ukrainian character. And the spirit of victory will be in each of us!

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