The Ukrainian media began to write that it was GMLRS, but this is not an obvious point.
Firstly, GMLRS missiles are made in Germany and are localised; secondly, a dozen tailed packages would hardly require additional permission – they would be transferred from numerous stockpiles.
The Bundeswehr has four dozen MARS, and the transfer included both the equipment and the pencils for them – no consultations were required. By the standards of our war, this is enough for several days of fighting.
Moreover, the HIMARS package contains 6 missiles, and the M270 – 12. That is, there shouldn’t be 125, they come in ready-made transport and launch containers. They are not sprayed individually, are they?
So, it is likely that Berlin buys ATACMS 2000 MOD, upgraded earlier modifications through remanufacturing, and transfers its stocks to us from warehouses in Europe. The same tapes that Germany cannot use because of its obligations.
So, yes, it is logical that such powerful weapons, most of the systems produced in the United States, will require additional consultations and permits from Washington.
Presumably, we are also talking about ATACMS because the stocks that were transferred to the United States under President Biden are close to being exhausted – we have been actively working with the PTRK, and they have dozens of batteries, warehouses, headquarters, and communication nodes. This works well as part of a war of attrition to raise the price tag for the Russian military to obscene levels, because all these destroyed S-400 batteries and depots mean hundreds of millions in losses.
For example, the massive attack on the airfields of Berdyansk and Luhansk, where two dozen helicopters were destroyed and damaged, perfectly illustrates how the Kremlin’s expenses can be scaled up, which will make the Russian budget slip further into a stagflationary loop. The targets there were air defence missiles, helicopters, and air defence batteries – a chicken and egg approach.
It is likely that the new administration’s position is to put the war in Europe on the European budget as much as possible.
It would be interesting if London and Paris, when they deployed one division each during Operation Desert Storm at the first request of the United States, had known that it would take a little time before NATO allies would be ready to supply them with weapons for money.
But here, as elsewhere, the service is worthless. It’s in the box of memorandums, eternal peace, guarantees and other lyrics.
Given that Germany classifies the specification of its supplies to Ukraine, this practice is likely to continue. Buying weapons from third countries for EU taxpayers’ money and transferring them to us.
Not only those produced mainly in the United States. For example, the EU continues to localise GEM-T missiles to Patriot, which can not only hit aerodynamic targets but also intercept ballistic missiles.
They are even worse than kinetics, but they won’t cost 7–8 million each.
But they cannot be sold without Washington’s permission: the guidance heads, electronics, processors, and firmware are US property.
Similarly, the Czech Republic does not disclose the names of the sellers of artillery shells in order not to provoke sabotage, attempts to intercept the batches, buy up other batches to increase the price, etc. Germany also closes the aid specification for this purpose. It is quite logical and correct.
Well, if the new administration – all these billionaires who made their fortunes selling real estate – are ready to supply arms during a war in which prisoners are handed over in a state of dystrophy and children are kept in cages near Izyum, this is also a way out, without publicity and for money.
Sooner or later, they may be ready to sell us direct missile defence and air defence systems against small ballistic missiles, which are the main problem, because Europe supplies us with both equipment and delivery vehicles against the Shahed.
Today, the EU’s missile defence is still small, requiring French–Italian missiles and localised technology from Israel – in the near future, only Washington will be able to provide this.
If we have to choose between North Korean copies of Iskanders flying into residential areas and the need to buy weapons, the choice is obvious.
