'The US and NATO strategy for expanding the Ukrainian conflict.'
US to send heavy guided missiles to Ukraine
14 Jun, 2022Pentagon policy chief Colin Kahl revealed the payload for HIMARS launchers
The US is sending Ukraine heavy guided missiles with a range of 70km for use with the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl revealed on Tuesday. The White House previously said that HIMARS launchers would be provided with “battlefield munitions,” widely understood to be unguided rockets with a shorter range.
The high-mobility artillery rocket system will come with GMLRS guided rockets, Kahl said on Tuesday, speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for New American Security (CNAS), a Democrat-linked think tank for which he used to work.
“Sometimes when you see images of MLRS firing off, it’s like salvos of multiple rockets going off at the same time. That’s really not how this system is meant to operate,” Kahl said.
“The GMLRS is a precision guided munition, and a big one – a 500 pound munition,” he added. “Think of GMLRS more like the effect of an airstrike rather than launching off whole salvos. So, in other words, you can do a lot with a little, or you don’t need a lot to have a significant effect.”
When the White House first announced it was sending HIMARS launchers to Ukraine on June 1, it said they would be armed with “battlefield munitions,” which was widely taken to mean barrage rockets with a range of between 32km and 60km, considering that HIMARS is also capable of launching ballistic projectiles with a range of up to 300km.
“The range does not depend on the system itself, but on the missiles that are used,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a TV interview earlier this month, adding that if the US sends long-range rockets Russia will “draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons, which we have enough of, in order to strike at those objects that we have not yet struck.”
Even though the US initially promised four launchers and said they had been “pre-positioned” in Europe, they have yet to reach Ukraine, according to the Pentagon. The first group of Ukrainian artillerists are currently finishing their training on the launchers, Kahl said.
The HIMARS launcher is equipped with one pod that can carry six GMLRS rockets, according to their maker, Lockheed Martin. The M270 launcher, which the UK has promised to Ukraine, carries two pods for double the payload. Kahl did not say how many rockets the US was sending.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, since the start of the conflict Ukraine has lost over 500 multiple rocket launch systems and more than 1,900 pieces of artillery. Kiev has beseeched its allies in the West to provide more weapons and ammunition.
“We’re going to provide the Ukrainians what they need to prosecute the targets inside Ukrainian territory that they’re looking to go after,” Kahl said at the end of his remarks about the HIMARS.
On Monday, the authorities in the Donetsk People’s Republic reported the heaviest Ukrainian shelling since 2015, with “indiscriminate” strikes on the city of Donetsk resulting in five fatalities and almost 40 civilian injuries. Among the incoming shells were 155mm munitions used by howitzers provided to Ukraine by the US and other NATO allies, authorities in the Donbass republic said, requesting additional military assistance from Russia.
Moscow has condemned the shelling of Donbass civilians as “absolutely barbaric.” A spokesman for the UN secretary-general called the shelling of a maternity hospital in Donetsk “an obvious breach of international humanitarian law.”
NATO pledges more heavy weapons for Ukraine
14 Jun, 2022(Translated by Google)The bloc is unwilling to fight Russia directly and treats Kiev as a proxy, Dutch PM admits
Ukraine must get more NATO heavy weapons, the military bloc’s head said on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of the US-led ‘contact group’ to discuss the logistics of that undertaking. NATO is trying to adapt to the “constantly changing” demands from Kiev, according to the US envoy to the alliance.
“Ukraine should have more heavy weapons and NATO allies and partners have provided heavy weapons ... and they are also stepping up,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday in The Hague, where he met with leaders of seven member countries ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for the end of June.
“In terms of weaponry, we stand united here that it is crucial for Russia to lose the war,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who hosted the meeting. “And as we cannot have a direct confrontation between NATO troops and Russia, what we need to do is make sure that Ukraine can fight that war, that it has access to all the necessary weaponry.”
Romanian President Klaus Johannis, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Belgian PM Alexander De Croo, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, Portuguese PM Antonio Costa, and Latvian PM Krisjanis Karins also attended the meeting in the Netherlands. Stoltenberg previously visited Sweden and Finland, which have applied to join NATO but will most likely not be formally invited to the June 29-30 summit in Madrid, due to Turkish objections.
Meanwhile, US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith was reported as saying that NATO countries are trying to adapt to Kiev’s demands for additional weapons, which are constantly changing.
According to the Pentagon, initial efforts to supply Ukraine focused on portable anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, but are now shifting to tanks and heavy artillery due to the nature of the current fighting in Donbass.
Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that Kiev urgently needs 1,000 howitzers, 300 multiple-launch rocket systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 1,000 drones.
While the US has pledged only four HIMARS rocket launchers, the Pentagon’s policy chief, Colin Kahl, on Tuesday revealed that they would be supplied with heavy guided missiles, with a range of 70 kilometers.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in Brussels, where he will chair the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to discuss how to best supply Kiev. According to an unnamed US official quoted by the Pentagon’s news release, “Ukrainians know themselves best what they’re dealing with, and we actively seek their information on the battlefield conditions.”
“Generally, we take their assessment as reliable and valid,” the official added.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered Minsk Protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
Sweden sent its submarine to the Baltic Sea
2022-06-15(Translated by Google)Submarine of the Swedish Navy launched into the Baltic Sea.
NATO countries and allies of the North Atlantic Alliance continue to openly provocation against Russia. As it became known, Sweden, which had just applied for joining the western military bloc, launched its submarine into the Baltic Sea, which is expected to practice tasks related to hitting surface targets with torpedoes.
At the moment, there is information that we are talking about sending Gotland-class submarines to the Baltic Sea. What specific submarine is in question is not specified, however, today the Swedish Navy has three submarines of this type in service.
It is known that the dispatch of a Swedish Navy submarine to the Baltic Sea was authorized against the backdrop of NATO exercises in the region. At the same time, experts believe that Stockholm is clearly trying to demonstrate the presence of its ships and submarines in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders.
At the same time, experts note that the Russian military is actively monitoring the movement of any foreign warships near the Russian borders, and it is likely that the Swedish submarine did not go unnoticed, although the latter does not carry missile weapons.
The location of the decision-making center for the Ukrainian Air Force and Air Defense has been established
2022-06-11'The US is dragging Europe into war with Russia.'The command of the Ukrainian Air Force is carried out from the American air base Ramstein in Germany.
The provision of operational information for the air defense and air force of Ukraine is carried out by the US military from the territory of the Ramstein airbase. Initially, such information has already appeared, however, it has now been confirmed by the American magazine Coffee or Die, in a published article which reveals the role of the US military in providing Kyiv with operational information about the situation in a vast region.
According to the data presented, a special advisory group of the US Air Force operates at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which ensures the conduct of combat operations of the Ukrainian Air Force and Air Defense against Russia. Probably, it is for this reason that one can observe a rather high level of coordination of the Ukrainian military in terms of countering missile strikes and using combat aircraft.
The Gray Wolf Group is exploring the limited technological tools available to Ukrainians, whose air force is made up largely of Soviet-era hardware. With the assistance of Ukrainian colleagues, the team relays recommendations through the Ministry of Defense chain of command for "low-cost, game-changing" solutions to Ukraine's air combat problems. These decisions include proposals for the supply of equipment, as well as the transfer of tactics and equipment to pilots and support personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force, which can then be immediately used in combat. “Knowing their pilots, knowing their aircraft […] we decide what we can do to create an impact on the battlefield,” said the pilot, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of his work . .
For obvious reasons, no details are given on this matter, but earlier it really became known that the actual command of the Ukrainian Air Force is carried out by NATO countries, in particular, we are talking about the United States.
On the other hand, experts draw attention to the fact that such management has not led to any real success.
