Ukraine uses guided missiles with longer range than HIMARS
Ukraine has developed and deployed in battle a guided artillery rocket with a greater range and heavier warhead than the lauded guided munitions of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) provided to it by the United States and its allies.
The so-called "Vilha-M" is a modified Soviet BM-30 "Smerch" rocket, measuring 7.6 meters (25 feet) in length.
Lt.. Vilha-M - this is a modified version of the Soviet era rocket launcher "Smerch" (VICTOR DRACHEV/AFP Getty Images)
"Vilha-M" has a range of 110 km (68 miles) and a 300-millimeter warhead weighing 485 pounds, which can hit targets with high accuracy, Ivan Vinnik, first deputy head of the National Association of the Defense-Industrial Complex of Ukraine, told The War Zone on Tuesday.
For comparison, GMLRS munitions, used by the highly mobile M142 or HIMARS artillery rocket systems and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), provided to Ukraine, have a range of approximately 80 km (about 50 miles) and 227 mm, 200-pound warheads.
"So, 'Vilha' was used in combat operations," said Vinnyk on Tuesday during the 15th US-Ukraine Security Dialogue Conference, held at the National Press Club in Washington. He was unable to provide the exact location of the 'Vilha-M' missile application.
Credit: Firing of Vilha-M during tests. (YouTube screenshot)
In the following talks on Wednesday, Vinnik told The War Zone that the Wilkha-M modification program began in 2018 and that about 100 units have been released.
He added that they were first used in combat operations in May 2022.
Their accuracy, according to him, is increased thanks to so-called "gas chambers" — dozens of small openings that release fuel — which are used to guide the missile to the target via GPS. "Wilkha-M" is considered quite accurate and highly accurate ammunition, but it is not currently announced how accurate it is.
Small. Gas chambers on the Wilkha-M missile help guide the warhead to the target via GPS. (Photo by Ivan Vinnik)
Questions about the use of the Wilha-M arose last week after several nights of shelling of the occupied port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea, about 50 miles from the nearest Ukrainian units.
Although it is entirely possible that HIMARS were used in these attacks, it can be assumed that Wilha-M may have been used, but Winnik does not disclose this information.
⚡️
— Russian Market (@runews) February 21, 2023
The Ukrainian army reportedly used new types of ammunition for the MLRS. Mass shelling was seen in a number of far cities of Donbass. Air defense was actively working over Donetsk. In total, more than 30 explosions occurred.
Mariupol is under attack. There were more than 15… https://t.co/s69TZ3bTvV pic.twitter.com/6fRetLkOLT
Despite being produced in small quantities, "Vilha-M" gives Ukraine ammunition that reaches up to 36% farther with more than twice the useful payload than GMLRS.
Credit: "Vilha-M" can reach longer distances with more payload than GMLRS. (Photo provided by Ivan Vinnik)
Vinnik said that it is planned to modify "Vilha-M" to increase the range of action to 150 km (approximately 93 miles).
As for where "Vilha-M" has been used, Vinnik declined to specify when exactly the longer-range variants will be ready and how many of them will be produced.
"Let's say, hopefully, just in time for the counteroffensive in the south, towards the Azov Sea, which is talked about a lot," — he told The War Zone.
The new variants, he added, will not be tested before being used in combat.
"Testing will take place on the battlefield," he said.
The extended-range version of the Wilkha-M will have roughly the same range as the ground-launched small diameter bomb (GLSDB) recently approved by the Pentagon for use in Ukraine, but with a much larger warhead and significantly more kinetic power.
This would be particularly useful against targets such as bridges, large structures, and heavy fortifications, which are not well suited for either GLSDB or GMLRS.
But even with a 93-mile range, the new Wilkha-M variant will still have less than half the range of the Army's short-range ballistic missiles (ATACMS), which can strike targets at about 200 miles.
But for now, the US is refusing to provide them to Ukraine.
"It's still not bad," Vinnyk said Tuesday at the 15th Annual "Security Dialogue between the US and Ukraine" conference on the modified Wilkha-M in development. "It's much better than what we have right now."
Attempting to figure out how active Ukraine is when it comes to developing and deploying its own high-precision long-range weapons has at best been hazy. There were assumptions that they could revive their once quite successful local ballistic missile program, for example. Nevertheless, the "Vilha-M" is a rare proof that Ukraine is fully capable and actively working on using its own long-range, powerful weapon for battle, even in limited quantities, despite being under constant attack.