Pentagon: Russia Fails to Destroy American HIMARS

On July 20th, during a briefing after a 50-nation Defence leaders’ meeting, together with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley boasted that Russia has not been able to eliminate any High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) donated to Ukraine.

 “To date, those systems have not been eliminated by the Russians, and I knock on wood every time I say something like that,” Milley told reporters. “And they’re being very effective at using them, employing precision weapons against targets.”

 According to Milley, Ukrainian forces are making good use of the HIMARS against the Russian side. On Wednesday during a meeting with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, Austin announced that the U.S. would be sending four additional M142 HIMARS to Ukraine, bringing the total number to 16. In addition to HIMARS, Austin added that President Biden would be sending more munitions for the HIMARS and “precision-guided artillery ammunition, tactical vehicles and other urgently needed support.”

 Claimed by Ukraine last week, Ukraine’s armed force has destroyed two Russian ammunition depots in the southern Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka by using US-made HIMARS. Also, Kyiv Post reported on Wednesday, that Ukraine’s armed forces partially destroyed the vital Antonivka Road Bridge in the southern Kherson region after striking it with HIMARS.