The government of Volodimir Zelensky has been asking Washington and the West to supply the MLRS and HIMARS systems, capable of firing several missiles hundreds of kilometers
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An American soldier sits next to a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) after a live-fire exercise by the US Army’s 41st Field Artillery Brigade in Germany
Joe’s government Biden is preparing to increase the type of military weaponry he sends to Ukraine to help local forces contain advancing Russian troops. American officials assure that the Executive is considering the supply of advanced long-range rocket systems, which are now the main request of Ukrainian officials.
According to the chain < i>CNN, the supply of this new military aid package could be announced next week.
Ukrainian senior officials, including President Volodimir Zelensky, have recently requested weeks to the United States and its Western allies the supply of the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS, for its acronym in English), made in the United States, which allows several missiles to be fired hundreds of kilometers – much further than any of the systems Ukraine has. b>
Another system Ukraine requested is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same ammo types than MLRS.
One of the main obstacles, according to the sources, is the long range of the rocket systems. The MLRS and its lighter version, the HIMARS, can launch up to 300 km, depending on the type of ammunition. The missiles are fired from a mobile vehicle at ground targets, which would allow the Ukrainians to more easily attack targets inside Russia.
As the United States and its allies supply Ukraine with increasingly sophisticated weapons, Washington has held talks with kyiv about the danger of an escalation if it attacks Russian territory, US officials and diplomats told Reuters.
The highly sensitive and previously unreported behind-the-scenes discussions do not place explicit geographical restrictions on the use of the weapons supplied to the Ukrainian forces, but have sought to reach a shared understanding of the risk of an escalation. , indicated three US officials and diplomatic sources.
“We are concerned about the escalation and, however, we do not want to set geographical limits or tie their hands too much with the material that we are giving”, said one of the three US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The administration of President Joe Biden and US allies have been increasingly willing to give Ukraine longer-range weaponry, including M777 howitzers, as kyiv battles Russian invasion forces with more success than ever before. that US intelligence officials had envisioned.
The Pentagon’s announcement last week that Denmark would provide Ukraine with Harpoon anti-ship missiles would further extend kyiv’s range.
< p class=”paragraph”>After initially predicting that Ukraine would be overwhelmed by a much larger Russian military, US officials have recently expressed hope that Ukrainian forces can win the war, and want to arm them to do so.
The coming months could set the war on a “more unpredictable and potentially escalating trajectory,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a Senate hearing this month.
The United States is not, by design, fighting Russian forces directly, but Pentagon commanders are in constant contact with Ukrainian leaders and have provided critical intelligence that has allowed Ukraine to attack Russian troops, US officials have said. .
A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington and kyiv had a shared “understanding” on the use of certain Western-supplied weapons systems.
“Until now, we’ve been on the same page about thresholds,” the official said.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Asked about whether the United States would send advanced long-range rocket systems, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked last Monday., was reluctant: “I don’t want to get ahead of where we are in the resource allocation process.”
Since the start of the invasion Washington has also had qualms about supplying additional MiG-29 fighter jets, which some feared might allow the Ukrainians to take the fight to Russian territory. Ultimately, the Biden administration decided against supplying Poland with new fighters, which that would have allowed the Poles to equip Ukraine with Soviet-era MiGs.
So far, US-supplied weapons packages to Ukraine have focused on Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger short-range anti-aircraft, as well as small arms and ammunition. At the time, the M777 howitzers provided a significant increase in range and power over earlier systems, but even these have a maximum range of about 25 kilometers, far less than the MLRS and HIMARS.
With information from Reuters and CNN