America sends advanced missiles to help Ukraine fend off Russia

Ukraine’s defence ministry recently released unusual aerial footage of the war in Donbas. It did not show Ukraine’s successes against Russia, but rather its vulnerabilities: pockmarked fields being blasted by salvos of incoming Russian rockets. “This is what the largest and most horrific war of the 21st century looks like,” said the tweet on May 26th. “Ukraine is ready to strike back. To do this, we need nato-style mlrs. Immediately.”

Belatedly, Western allies are responding. President Joe Biden announced on May 31st that he would send “more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine.” The Pentagon said it would send a first consignment of four m142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (himars), currently pre-positioned in Europe. Each carries a pod of six gps-guided missiles, accurate over distances as far as 70-84km—about three times the range of the howitzers that America has supplied thus far. Reports say Germany and Britain are likely to provide himars’s older cousin, the m270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (mlrs), which fires the same family of missiles.