Fantasies abound that the flood of heavy artillery flowing into Ukraine from the U.S. will somehow turn the tide and result in Russia’s military defeat. The Washington Post reports that Lloyd Austin, speaking alongside Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand at the Pentagon on April 28, said long-range weapons will prove “decisive” in the next phase of the war.
The Javelin missiles didn’t prove decisive despite being presented as a silver bullet against the Russians; so if the 155mm artillery doesn’t turn the tide, what’s next?
Zelenskyy wants more. He wants rocket artillery which the U.S. has so far not provided (there have been rumors to the contrary but they seem to be just that, rumors). Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel ensconced at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says there’ll be a lot of pressure on the Biden Administration to provide HIMARS, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a truck-mounted rocket launcher used by both the U.S. Army and Marines. “I think there will be a lot of pressure to provide that, and since we seem to be announcing an aid package a week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see HIMARS next week or the week after,” Cancian said.
