Another U.S./NATO Wunderwaffe bites the dust. HIMARS (“High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems”) batteries were shipped by the U.S. to the Ukraine with much fanfare in June 2022. NATO mouthpieces have finally admitted that HIMARS is worthless.
The HIMARS Wunderwaffe
Discussing the manifold failures of western Wunderwaffen in the Ukraine-Russia Conflict is stale, but necessary. The United States shipped HIMARS in June 2022; in August 2022, the British government’s principal propaganda outlet, BBC, wondered, “What are Himars missiles and are they changing the war?” One “expert” cited by BBC claimed, “It [HIMARS] has given the Ukrainian forces a new strategy—of degrading the Russian supplies until they cannot hold, of depleting Russian firepower, and of wearing its army down by attrition” (ibid.). In May 2024, staunch Ukraine supporters, Washington Post and Daily Telegraph, admitted what we have known: HIMARS is “completely ineffective.”
What makes HIMARS utterly useless? Electronic warfare and SAM systems.
Electronic Warfare
“Russian forces can jam satellite guidance ammunition such as Excalibur artillery shells and HIMARS systems. Russia has deployed in Ukraine the R-330Zh Zhitel in Ukraine, capable of detecting, tracking, and jamming the Inmarsat and Iridium satellite communications and GSM-1900 cellphones and also acting against GPS navigation systems utilizing the NAVSTAR satellites. . . Russian EW (Electronic Warfare) systems have forced the U.S. and Ukraine to continuously update and adapt their software and operational tactics to mitigate the jamming effects. Despite these efforts, the effectiveness of precision-guided munitions has been notably reduced, highlighting the evolving challenge posed by Russian electronic warfare capabilities” (See “analysis:…” at Army Recognition; emphasis added).
Surface-to-Air Missiles
Air defense (AD) systems have inherent weaknesses against ballistic missiles, but Russian AD, viz., the Buk-M1 medium-range SAM system, has proved highly-effective against HIMARS.
Conclusion
Do any U.S./NATO weapons systems work as advertised? Despite mountains of empirical evidence from the Ukraine-Russia theater on failures of multiple western Wunderwaffen; and Iran’s successful raid on Israel that exposed the weaknesses of American and Israeli air defense systems, the U.S., still believes it can win a war against Russia, China, or Iran. The disingenuous argument proffered by American politicians on the manifold failures of NATO weapons systems was expressed by U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul on his recent visit to Taiwan: “The stuff [weapons] going to Ukraine [are] old and it’s old NATO stuff [weapons]; this is all brand-new for Taiwan.” If Taipei believes this rubbish, the fate that awaits them will be terrible.
Perspectives 
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