US gives Ukraine HIMARS ammunition for strikes against Russian troops

20 November, 2024 M142 HIMARS launches ATACMS missile. Autumn 2023. Ukraine.

Frame from the video of the General Staff of Ukraine The United States announces a new £275 million military aid package for Ukraine, including HIMARS ammunition. This announcement is the Biden Administration's seventieth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

This Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package, estimated to be worth £275 million, will give Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs. In particular, it regards munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons. The capabilities in this announcement include:

  • Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
  • 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
  • 60mm and 81mm mortar rounds;
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems;
  • Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
  • Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
  • Small arms and ammunition;
  • Demolitions equipment and munitions;
  • Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear protective equipment; and
  • Spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation.
155-?? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????????? ? ?????????, ???? ????????????, ???, 16 ?????? /p p2023 ?. ????: REUTERS 155mm shells are stored at a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 16, 2023. Photo credits: REUTERS

In September, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a total of £7.9 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, and as of October 15, the United States has allocated more than £59.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The HIMARS rocket system can launch various types of missiles and shells. Different types of munitions with a range of 70 to hundreds of kilometers can be mounted on one chassis.

Initially, the effect of GMLRS shells was widely demonstrated in Russia's war against Ukraine. It was thanks to these munitions that, in the first year of the war, the Russian invaders' ammunition depots were massively destroyed. The range of GMLRS is up to 80 km.

HIMARS can launch a volley of 6 such shells.

M142 HIMARS and ATACMS missiles. Photo credits: Mariusz Burcz

Already in the fall of 2023, Ukraine received ATACMS missiles from the United States, which can reach a range of 300 kilometers. These ballistic missiles are also launched from HIMARS, but only one such missile can be placed in the launcher.

The United States recently allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with American long-range missiles.

With two months left in office, the President, for the first time, authorized the Ukrainian military to use the system known as ATACMS to help defend its forces in the Kursk region of Russia.

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