Gernot Kramper (star) And that’s why this capering, this miracle weapon thinking is practical: we now have four individual pieces and they are turning around. There would have to be a lot more. // It can be assumed that most of the data required for this comes from the Americans. // You can always say that’s desperate Kremlin propaganda, I don’t know. Of course there are also some weirdos somewhere in the world on the Internet who then manipulate these videos because they believe they are doing a good job.
Hendrik Holdmann (star) Ukraine has long asked for or demanded heavy weapons, including rocket launchers. Western nations, most notably the United States, have now supplied Ukraine with rocket launchers. For example, how successful is the use of the American HIMARS rocket launchers in war?
Gernot Kramper (star) So these rocket launchers are very successful. You just have to say it like that. point, over, end. So they have these HIMARS rocket launchers can be equipped with ammunition of different ranges. Ukraine apparently has ranges, the ammunition with a range of just under 100 kilometers. They would like to have some with a range of several 100 kilometers. We don’t know yet whether that will happen. And with that you are in a position to attack positions deep in the rear of the Russians without going directly to the front. In principle, one can say that something like our Panzerhaubitzen 2000 could do that too, if there were ammunition with an increased range. But in any case, this is a system, ammunition and rocket launchers are supplied by the Americans, and this hits the Russian ammunition depots. And that’s the idea of saying: we can’t exhibit all the individual guns of the Russians. But we try to disrupt their logistics: bridges, train stations, ammunition depots. Of course, it also has the disadvantage, especially with the train stations, that civilians are always endangered with such things, because there is no city in Germany that has a military train station and then there is nothing five kilometers around and then there is the civil railway station. It’s all sort of in an urban area with commercial zones, shopping centers and such other things. And that’s what the Ukrainians do. And you have to say that what the Americans are delivering is a really big package. Not only do they supply the rocket launchers, the training, the ammunition, they will also supply the target data. That’s also very important. So if you want to hit a depot or something 70 kilometers behind the border, you have to know exactly where it is. So of course, the station is still relatively simple, because it doesn’t move. But such a depot in the forest, that has to be scouted out and all sorts of things. And it can be assumed that most of the data required for this will come from the Americans. And that is also very successful, because an ammunition depot is a static target. So if that’s cleared up on Tuesday evening and he’s in a forest, then there’s a good chance it’ll still be there on Wednesday and Thursday. Because of the tank column, of course, that’s not the case. Now you have to say, well, there are only a handful of throwers. There should be more now. But here too, of course, you have to say: Why are these throwers so late? I would say that if the Americans had supplied 40 or 50 of these launchers with the appropriate ammunition, the Russians’ Donbass offensive would be in big trouble. Well, I don’t want to say that it would have collapsed then, but that would have taken a completely different course. And you have to say that this number of four or five is of course always just a single pinprick. Here, and also in the media, these ammunition depots are very prominent. That’s right, but one mustn’t forget that the Russians carry out similar attacks with long-distance weapons every day in the Ukraine. We always report when there are civilian casualties. That’s right, but they don’t just shoot tickets, they hit sometimes or mostly. That means, if we think: Oh, a Russian ammunition depot just blew up, you have to assume that workshops, maintenance, logistics centers bla bla in the Ukraine are hit by the Russians every day and not in four launchers. And that’s why this capering, this miracle weapon thinking is practical. We now have four individual pieces and they are turning around. There should have been a lot more and they should have been earlier. And we’ll have to see if the Russians can think of a way to do it. That’s not so easy, because these launchers are relocated very quickly and then just fire one salvo and are hidden again. But of course you have to say that they are very conspicuous and there are spies everywhere, there are collaborators everywhere and there are also people who do it for money and these rocket launchers have to be stored somewhere. And that’s the way things are, there are also residents in Ukraine, it’s not possible to do something like that… it’s not a desert.
Hendrik Holdmann (star) Is there reliable information about how many of these rocket launchers, American or otherwise, have now been destroyed?
Gernot Kramper (star) No, there isn’t. Well, but in the case what there is. There are an incredible number of fake videos. So basically they’ve all been destroyed ten times. Can you put it that way, and now you can always say it’s desperate Kremlin propaganda, I don’t know. Of course, there are also some weirdos somewhere on the Internet who manipulate these videos because they believe they are doing a good job. But in any case there is no reliable data and it is of course also possible that some have failed. You have to say it like that. Well, because as I implied, I would expect these types of mobile launchers to be most likely to be destroyed where they are stored. In other words, then at the end of the day you would only see a hall that blew up. And then someone writes down: Four HIMARS launchers destroyed. Yes, that can be, but that can also not be. There could also be tractors or something underneath. So this is difficult to control from the outside. So. And Ukraine, of course, wouldn’t issue a press statement if they lost four or three out of their few pitchers. You have to say it like that.