- Ukrainian troops usually won't fire their HIMARS without targeting data from the US, officials said.
- The US-provided HIMARS have been a key weapon for Ukrainian forces throughout the war.
The Ukrainian military almost never fires the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that have devastated Russian forces unless they receive targeting data from the US, The Washington Post reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
According to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke to the Post, the targeting process often involves Ukrainian forces identifying a Russian target, requesting more accurate coordinates from US partners, and then waiting to receive said coordinates.
The official said that the US doesn't always send coordinates. In that case, they said, Ukraine holds its fire. As the report explained, Ukraine can still launch HIMARS attacks without US coordinates, but the country is reluctant to waste ammunition by potentially missing the target.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on report detailing US involvement in Ukrainian military operations.
HIMARS have been key to Ukraine's success in its fight against the Russian full-scale invasion, which began nearly a year ago. The launchers arrived on the battlefield in the early summer of 2022, and Ukraine quickly began firing its GPS-guided rockets at Russian sites like ammunition depots and command posts, causing significant damage and wreaking havoc on Russian logistics.
Kyiv's forces also leveraged the much-celebrated weapons to help Ukraine liberate territory around the southern Kherson region during a major counteroffensive push.
In one particular noteworthy incident from earlier this year, Ukrainian troops used their HIMARS to carry out a deadly strike on Russian positions in the eastern occupied city of Makiivka. The attack left scores of Russian troops dead and triggered widespread criticism of Moscow's military leadership.
While these rockets have been useful to Ukraine, the country is still requesting long-range US-made Army Tactical Missiles Systems (ATACMS) that would make the HIMARS even more lethal with an extended range. Ukraine originally asked for the 190-mile range missiles in May 2022. Several US allies that border Russia — like Poland and Estonia — have also sought to obtain this longer-range capacity.
The Biden administration has so far refused to send these missiles to Ukraine out of concern that they could be used to strike targets within Russia, potentially triggering a harsh response from Moscow. One senior Ukrainian official who spoke with The Washington Post explained that if Kyiv received ATACMS, it would still rely on US strike guidance like it does with HIMARS.
"You're controlling every shot anyway," the official said, "so when you say, 'We're afraid that you're going to use it for some other purposes,' well, we can't do it even if we want to."