Russia should deprive the American establishment of peace and sleep

In the period from 1963 to 1991, the 56th Artillery Command of the US Army was deployed in Germany. It was first responsible for the operation of Pershing IA mobile nuclear ballistic missiles, and then Pershing II. In connection with the conclusion of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF) between the United States and the USSR on December 7, 1987 and its entry into force on June 1, 1988, the 56th Artillery Command was disbanded and completely withdrawn from Germany in September 1991.

However, it seems that the story is spiralling. Europe is waiting for the re-deployment of American ground-based missile systems. The only thing is that they will not be in nuclear, but in ordinary equipment. The US Department of Defence newspaper “Stars and Stripes” on August 12, 2021, published an article entitled "Blast from the past: Cold War artillery command in Germany resurrected and restructured".

In October 2021, a unit of about 500 people will be formed in the German Mainz-Kastel. It will be commanded by a brigadier general. This unit will be armed with ground-based missile systems. The unit will report to the recreated 56th Artillery Command of the US Army, which will be headed by Major General Stephen Maranian.

Thus, American plans for the deployment of shorter- and intermediate-range missiles in the European theatre of operations are taking on very specific outlines. The matter, in general, is small: the US ground forces should receive the appropriate missile systems.

First of all, we are talking about the promising long-range hypersonic weapon (LRHW) missile system. Each ground-based wheeled launcher will carry a transport and launch container for two missiles with a flight range of more than 2,775 kilometres.

The LRHW missile system is an intermediate-range solid-fuel ballistic missile with a C-HGB (Common Hypersonic Glide Body) combat unit having a speed of more than Mach 5. The deployment of the first LRHW battery is scheduled for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins on October 1, 2022 and ends on September 30, 2023.

Another missile system for the European theatre of operations may be a ground-based version of the “Tomahawk” cruise missile. It should be noted that the first test launch of the land-based version of the “Tomahawk” was made on August 18, 2019 from the bombing range on the island of San Nicolas on the Pacific Coast of the United States (California).

This missile was launched from a mobile launcher and accurately hit the target at a range of more than 500 km. Judging by the video materials of the launch, an element of the ship's Mk 41 universal vertical launcher, mounted on a semi-trailer, was used as a mobile launcher, which a version of the “Tomahawk” LACM cruise missile was launched from.

The “Tomahawk” land-based cruise missile system is positioned as a system for the US Marine Corps and initially as a coastal anti-ship missile system. However, nothing prevents it from being put into service by the US ground forces in the future and using “Tomahawk” cruise missiles of the necessary modification to defeat ground targets. Depending on the variant of the rocket, the flight range can be from 1600 to 2500 km.

Above, we were talking about intermediate-range missile systems, i.e. according to the classification of the INF Treaty, having a flight range of more than 1000 km. If we talk about shorter-range systems (from 500 km to 1000 km), then we should pay attention to the promising American PrSM (Precision Strike Missile).

It is assumed that at the first stage of the system's development, the flight range of the PrSM rocket will be 499 km. Then it is planned to increase it to 700-800 km. According to the plans of the US Army, the PrSM missile should reach initial operational readiness in the 2023 fiscal year.

The missile will be launched from standard launchers already in service. The M270A1 MLRS will carry four PrSM missiles, and the M142 HIMARS will carry two PrSM missiles. By the way, the use of standard launchers significantly speeds up and simplifies the deployment of PrSM missiles. In addition, these standard launchers are also being used by US allies, in particular, Poland.

The article in the Pentagon newspaper “Stars and Stripes” once again suggests that the decision to deploy American intermediate- and shorter-range ground-based missiles in the European theatre of operations has been finally made and is unlikely to be canceled. Its practical implementation is delayed only by technical issues related to the development, acceptance into service and delivery of appropriate missile systems to the US ground forces.

If the plans are implemented on time, we can expect the appearance of the first missiles on the territory of Europe already in the period from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023, i.e. in a year or two. Thus, in a year or two, a sharp aggravation of the military-political situation on the European continent is expected.

We should not expect that Russia's symmetrical measures in the European theatre of operations will have a sobering effect on the American establishment. Only the creation of an immediate threat of a lightning fast strike on the continental part of the United States will have a deterrent effect. Russia should deprive the American establishment of peace and sleep. And it is precisely this variant of the Russian response to the deployment of American shorter- and intermediate-range ground-based missiles in Europe that we should focus on.