Helping Ukraine to Win the War

Written on 30 October 2023.

Cluster munitions are the key to winning this war.  

The administration has already crossed over the threshold of cluster munitions. They have provided short range 155mm artillery shells that are cluster munitions approved July 7. They have approved long-range cluster ATACMS in limited numbers 90 days later, and this delivery proved really efficient – with only a dozen or so rockets hitting two enemy airfields and destroying two dozen Russian attack helicopters.

So they approved the shortest and longest range. And both proved themselves incredibly effective.  

Now it’s time to approve the shorter-range cluster rockets – M26 and m26A1 – and donate them in unlimited quantities until ultimate victory. These rockets use the same M-series cluster munitions as the ones already provided.  

But we have *tens of thousands* of these – and they are all scheduled to be disposed! So they have $0 book value to US Congress!   

But they remain effective in combat. Tremendously.

This war will be over soon if the administration approved the delivery of 400 pods, which is just 2,400 rockets. There are roughly 200 front line Russian battalions.   

But that’s 12 rockets per front line Russian battalion. The war can be over soon.  

That is what is needed.

The M39 cluster missiles fired from the M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS has already “won the headlines” with the massive long range strikes against Russian-controlled airfields in occupied parts of Ukraine. But the workhorse of American artillery is the M26/M26a1 shorter range cluster rockets. The long range in small quantities will keep “winning the headlines”, while the shorter range in large quantities will “win the war. “

The Biden administration should immediately ship 400 pods of M26/M26a1 to the Ukrainian HIMARS crews. And I should say these are arguably the world’s best HIMARS crews. They will be accurately firing these rockets into confirmed enemy positions and the Russians simply have no cure against those.

The Russian army simply cannot survive in Ukraine if the U.S. approves the deliveries.

These rockets are extremely accurate and they are also referred to as “area weapons,” capable of hitting a target 45km away within a few meters. They burst in the air and scatter 512 or 644 submunitions depending on a model. So 200 Russian battalions being hit by 12 rockets each would be 6,000 submunitions per battalion of roughly 500-1,000 soldiers.

We know precisely where all Russian battalions are located, and naturally, the Ukrainians do, too.

This would destroy all fuel and ammo depots, annihilate their tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery, vehicles, and generators, and cause massive casualties, which would destroy the invaders’ morale even further.

Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they are talking about. I was the advisor who advocated cluster artillery shells and rockets in July 2022 to both General Zaluzhnyi and General Milley. And with both the 155mm DPICM and Himars Atacms M39 cluster- both proved true.   

We are only a few political decisions away and within weeks the Ukrainian artillery could break the back of the Russian army in Ukraine.

Those 400 pods is a very small number for the logistical capabilities currently available. That’s fewer than a hundred 18-wheelers.

Common sense and my extensive experience tell me it’s the right thing to do. And this should be done as soon as possible. Ukraine must win this war. Soon. Russia must forever forget about trying to alter anyone’s borders by force.

Other dictators must see the cost Russia will bear and this will hopefully slow down the flywheel of global instability.

Cluster munitions are the best way to deter an aggressor’s invasion.   

Congress should stop the destruction of all cluster munitions, conduct an After Action Review, provide the full array of clusters to Estonia, Latvia,Poland, Taiwan, South Korea and stategically communicate to their enemies that any invasion will face cluster munitions.

Print Email