Kyiv is trying to convince Washington to transfer M26 cluster munitions.

This was reported by the US edition of Newsweek magazine sources.

These M26 cluster rockets are capable of being used with M142 HIMARS and M270 rocket launchers.

The journalists talked with Dan Rice, the Former Special Advisor to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief.

According to him, rocket shells with submunitions have a greater range of defeat than artillery shells. They could help the Ukrainian army break through Russia’s multilayered defense.

Rice expressed his belief that in the case of the transfer of 2,000 rounds of such ammunition, Ukraine would gain a significant advantage in the war.

According to Newsweek, a former adviser to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhnyi personally contributed to the transfer of 155-mm cluster shells for tube artillery.

М26

The American М26 rockets are designed to engage openly located manpower and military equipment, as well as counter-battery warfare.

It consists of the warhead and rocket units. It carries 644 DPICM M77 both shaped charges for the anti-armor role, and fragmentation submunitions.

Strike elements are tightly packed in sockets of polyurethane cylindrical blocks inside a thin-walled aluminum body.

After the main fuze is activated at the terminal stage of the trajectory, the body of the warhead is dropped, and then the submunitions are scattered.

The volley of one launcher dissipates 7,728 such submunitions over an area of about 25,000 sq. m.

Detonation of the М77 strike element occurs during an obstacle encounter. The capability of damaging the armor provides a shaped charge.

Armor penetration is up to 101.6 mm. Due to the debris that appears from the crushing of the steel body, the impact on manpower within a radius of four meters is ensured.

The М26 was first tested in combat conditions in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. The battle participants noted the relatively short range of the М26, as well as the fact that the М77 submunitions were not very effective against armored targets.

The M26 rocket was adopted by the armies of 14 countries. Currently, its production is suspended.