Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] 1. At the current stage, they are used at the same distance at which Tochka-U can operate. Even the night strike on Luhansk was carried out not only with the help of HIMARS, but also with Tochka-U missiles. As you can see, so far no fundamental increase in the range of destruction has occurred.
Previously, missiles flew quite well to Berdyansk, Taganrog, Millerovo, the Belgorod region, etc. Without any HIMARS and for the most part got off. Of course, there are more long-range missiles for HIMARS, but they have either not been delivered yet, or they have been delivered, but have not been used. I would estimate the probability of such deliveries as high. The Pentagon has already given the go-ahead for strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation. Basically to himself.
2. As sources from the field have already noted, the use of HIMARS is in conjunction with other MLRS ("Grad", "Alder", "Smerch", "Hurricane") and OTRK "Tochka-U", where the task of the old Soviet complexes is to "overload systems air defense with multiple targets and increase the chances of the HIMARS missile to hit the target.
As we see from the episode with Nova Kakhovka, air defense systems and air defense missile systems may well shoot down HIMARS missiles just as they say, shoot down missiles "Hurricane" or the same "Tochka-U". Precisely because, that this is possible, the enemy uses a massive missile launch on one specific target in order to increase his chances of success.
3. Accordingly, the problem is not in HIMARS itself, which is just a good MLRS system, but in the changed tactics of the enemy, who, using technical and undercover intelligence data, focused his attention on the logistics and command infrastructure of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine, trying to act within the framework of the concept of network-centric war, seeking to disrupt the supply chains and disable individual elements of the command structure.
4. I am sure that the change in approaches to the tactics of delivering strikes is the decision of the USA / NATO, which provide target designation, ensure the supply of the necessary weapons for such strikes, and most likely they themselves are directly involved in ensuring the operation of the complexes. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are nothing more than a screen and performers.