armor
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War Between Ukraine and Russia The United States announced that it would send 18 of these advanced artillery systems to Ukraine, which helped turn the situation in Kiev’s favour. The French army admits it is suffering from a “hole in the bat” over the matter.
Since the beginning of the summer, they have symbolized the newfound power of the Ukrainian army. Memes honoring them are flooding social media, and their silhouettes (a big truck with artillery tubes) populate t-shirts. The Himars (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), multiple rocket launchers from the American armaments giant Lockheed Martin, have become the emblem of the Ukrainian reconquest, just as the Turkish Bayraktar drones or the Javelin missiles embodied resistance to Russian aggression in the first weeks of the war.
On Wednesday night, Washington announced it would send 18 additional Himars as part of its new $1.1 billion military aid package to Ukraine. Their delivery won’t happen for six to twenty-four months, the Pentagon said, but the effort is significant: It will more than double the number of these sophisticated systems in Kyiv, from 16 today to 34. Their effectiveness stems from “their precise extension to tactical depth,” praises a French military source: The Himars allow the supplied ammunition to strike up to 80 km from the M31 GLMRS (compared to less than 40 km for French Caesars ), with terrible firepower bestowed by the explosions of rocket fire carrying 100 kilos of explosives. Finally, the GPS guidance of the M31 GLMRS makes it very precise despite the distance, aut…