Lloyd Austin said during a virtual meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine that new package of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, which will be announced later this week will include 4 more HIMARS systems to Ukraine. The speech of Lloyd J. Austin III from the Pentagon during the virtual meeting was published on official account of US DoD on Twitter:
"It (ed. - new package of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine) will include four more HIMARS, advanced rocket systems, which the Ukrainians have been using so effectively and which have made such a difference on the battlefield," U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
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The minister said that since the meeting in Brussels, the United States has pledged more than $2.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
Austin said the assistance includes a total of 12 reactive volley fire systems HIMARS to further enhance Ukrainian long-range firepower. The United States also pledged to transfer two NASAMS air defense systems to help Ukraine protect its forces and civilians from Russian missile attacks. The United States is also committing to send more HIMARS munitions, precision-guided artillery munitions and tactical vehicles, and other urgently needed support, according to the official.
He said the United States will continue to provide historic levels of security assistance to help Ukraine defend itself.
Earlier Defense Minister of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov said that Ukraine needs at least 50 M 142 HIMARS and M270 multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) to effectively deter the enemy and “at least 100” more HIMARS and MLRS units to be “a game-changer” during any Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army and mounted on a standard U.S. Army M1140 truck frame.
The M142 carries one pod with either six GMLRS rockets or one ATACMS missile on the U.S. Army's new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) five-ton truck and can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions (MFOM). M142 ammunition pods are interchangeable with the M270 MLRS; however, it is able to carry only one pod rather than the standard two for the M270 and its variants.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher.
The first M270s were delivered to the U.S. Army in 1983. The MLRS has since been adopted by several NATO countries. Some 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured in the United States and in Western Europe, along with more than 700,000 rockets. Production of the M270 ended in 2003.
Defense Express reported that Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny stated that the timely arrival of M142 HIMARS to Ukraine is an important factor contributing to holding Ukraine's defensive lines and positions in russian-Ukrainian War.
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