How many HIMARS were sent to Ukraine?
On 1 June 2022, the US announced that it would be supplying four HIMARS to Ukraine with M31 GMLRS unitary rockets.
On 23 June 2022, the first HIMARS arrived in Ukraine, and on 25 June 2022, Ukraine started deploying the system against Russian forces.
On 24 June 2022, a second batch of four was announced to be delivered in mid-July.
Another four HIMARS were announced for delivery on 8 July 2022.
A fourth batch of four was announced on 20 July, bringing the total number of HIMARS committed to Ukraine to 16.
On 30 August 2022, it was reported that decoy HIMARS units made out of wood had drawn at least 10 Russian 3M-54 Kalibr cruise missiles (at $1 million each) to attack them.
On 28 September 2022, it was announced that a further 18 HIMARS were to be supplied in 2023. But another 4 would be supplied earlier from existing stocks, to bring current Ukrainian availability to 20 HIMARS.
As of 11 November 2022, a senior U.S. official stated that none of the 20 HIMARS systems supplied, had been destroyed after five months in operational use.
At around this time the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, declared the HIMARS system as a high priority target for Russian troops.
It has been said that Russia has claimed to destroy 44 HIMARS, but a missing apostrophe issue appears to mean that they actually meant 44 HIMARS missiles, and not HIMARS launchers.
The M142 HIMARS is a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
- A HIMAR might be a High Mobility Artillery Rocket.
- HIMAR’s might mean multiple High Mobility Artillery Rockets.
- Each missile has a cost of about $168,000.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not claim it had destroyed 44 HIMARS launchers, a total greater than Ukraine has ever possessed. Instead, it said it had shot down 44 missiles launched by HIMARS.
The Ukrainians are understood to have struck over 400 targets with the HIMARS with devastating effect.
The latest M30A1 which uses an alternative warhead, can cover up to “half a square mile of land in a single salvo” armed with 180,000 tungsten steel BB sized balls. This can have a devastating effect against invading troops.
It is claimed that the Russians have been using the 48N6E missiles to bring down the HIMARS missiles.
The 48N6E missiles have a cost of $777,000 each.
It is also claimed that Russia has used the Buk missile to bring HIMARS missiles down. These have a cost of about $20,000.
A Buk missile was used by Russian supplied Ukrainian separatists to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on 17 July 2014, after Russia had invaded Ukraine and were supplying weapons to fight Ukrainian troops.
That Buk missile system came from the Russian military’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in the city of Kursk, Russia.
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