Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and one of the Russian officials responsible for the coordination of the arms industry, Dmitry Medvedev, states that Moscow has its own weapons equivalent to the American HIMARS, reports TASS.

He made the comment on the VKontakte platform, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, after being asked about the US-made rocket launchers that Ukraine received last summer.

“Many often mention [lansatoarele] KHIMARS. They are formidable weapons, there’s no denying that. But we have weapons that are not weaker, which have the same accuracy and range, or even better,” he said.

“Today’s war is a high-precision weapon, not only missiles that fly far and hit accurately, but also artillery shells that last for years,” he added.

“Until recently, it really seemed to us that this type of ammunition (shells) had a life of its own. But it turned out that this is not so. The guided missile “Krasnopil” is very effective when hitting targets at short distances. We also have other weapons, including the latest salvo fire systems,” he concluded.

Russia says it has HIMARS, but since the 80s

The 2K25 “Krasnopil” howitzers, which Medvedev mentions, are 152/155 millimeter caliber shells with stabilizers and semi-automatic laser guidance. They automatically aim at a laser-illuminated point, but it must be identified by the drone or, more often, by a ground gunner.

To fire these projectiles, the Russian military usually uses Soviet-made howitzers, such as the 2C3 “Akatia” and the 2C19 “Msta-S”.

They were designed to engage small targets such as tanks or other direct fire weapons, but can also be used against fortified defensive positions or other types of targets as long as they are visible to an observer.

The projectiles were officially adopted by the Russian military in 1986, and laser guidance was added in the early 2000s. HIMARS systems entered service with the US military in 2010.

At the end of December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Medvedev to the position of first vice president of the Military-Industrial Commission, a body created to coordinate the production of weapons in Russia and other spheres related to the military sphere.

Known for his belligerent statements against Ukraine and the West, Medvedev threatened on Thursday that arresting Putin in a foreign country would mean “declaring war on Russia.”

His comments came after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president last week.

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