The United States will provide four more precision rocket systems to Ukraine to help it battle Russia's invasion, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

His Ukrainian counterpart had asked the day before for Washington to send more M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) saying Kyiv's forces have used them to destroy some 30 Russian command stations and ammunition depots so far.

Washington will send "four more Himars advanced rocket systems for a total of 16. The Ukrainians have made excellent use of Himars, and you can see the impact on the battlefield," Austin told journalists at the Pentagon.

"Russia is keeping up its relentless shelling, and that's a cruel tactic that harkens back to the horrors of World War I. So Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand this barrage and to strike back," he said.

The United States will also send additional GMLRS ammunition, which can precisely strike targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Tuesday requested a major increase in the number of Himars, saying at least 100 were needed for an effective counter-offensive against Moscow's troops.

Reznikov also renewed a call for longer-range ammunition — 100 to 150 kilometers — to cut off Russian units from their support.

Asked about longer-range ammunition on Wednesday, Austin said: "We think what they have and what they're working with is really giving them a lot of capability."

Milley noted that Himars launchers can hold six GMLRS rockets but only one ATACMS missile — which can strike targets up to 300 kilometers away — meaning there is a trade-off between volume and range.

"Right now, the GMLRS is really fulfilling their need," Milley said.

President Joe Biden's administration has so far refused to send longer-range ammunition, fearing that Ukraine would strike targets inside Russian territory and potentially expand the war into a direct clash with the West.

Ukraine calls for ramp-up of US precision rocket systems
Washington (AFP) July 19, 2022 –

Ukraine's defense minister asked Tuesday for the West to scale up drastically its supply of precision rocket systems, calling them a "game-changer" that could allow a counteroffensive against Russian invaders.

The United States since mid-June has delivered eight units of the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or Himars, which can precisely strike targets within 80 kilometers (50 miles) using the ammunition that has been provided, with plans for four more.

"These systems allowed us to destroy approximately 30 command stations and ammunition storages," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the Atlantic Council.

"This has significantly slowed down the Russian advance and dramatically decreased the intensity of their artillery shelling. So it's working. We are grateful to our partners," he said in a virtual appearance at the Washington think tank.

But he said that far more systems were needed, likening Ukraine's border with Russia to the distance from Barcelona to Warsaw.

"The shield of Europe in Ukraine has the same distance — 2,500 kilometers of aggressive frontline with the enemy. For an effective counter-offensive, we would need at least 100, I think," he said of the Himars systems.

"That could be a game-changer on the battlefield in that case."

He renewed a call for longer-range rockets — 100 to 150 kilometers (60-90 miles) — to cut off Russian units from their support.

"We don't need the strategy of the meat-grinder," he said.