Game-changer

The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System is a game-changer in the Ukraine war. The U.S. supplied long-range howitzer, anti-radar missiles, and Phoenix Ghost drones are doing well than expected. On the other hand, Russia faces mockery as it failed to show good performance of its weapons.

In addition, Russian weapons’ reputation is plummeting as well. But this is not the first time. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in competition to send their weapons to allies. Some new weapons provided by the Soviet Union such as the Sagger Anti-Tank Missile, which destroyed Israel’s fleet of tanks or the SA-6 which laid the Israeli Air Force in ashes were game-changers. But overall, the weapons’ reputation of the Soviet Union got lower than before. Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser requested Leonid Khrushchev to supply the weapons made by the Soviet Union. But Khrushchev hesitated because he was afraid of the orders and prices of the weapons being declined when people knew the truth about the soviet union’s weapons.

Why weapons of Russia and the U.S. are showing different scores? Range, rate of fire, and destructive power are the performances of weapons you can see in an actual battle that are difficult to verify on paper. soldiers’ combat capabilities differ more than five to ten times depending on whether he has real battle experience. This is also applied to weapons.

Another reason has to do with the balance of quality. A field gun with an ultra-high-intensity gun barrel can become a failure due to a faulty tire or wheelset with weak screws. The munitions industry can easily become a hotbed of corruption. There are a large number of weapons that can’t even go to the battlefield but expire in warehouses and shooting ranges. A minor defect can be easily overlooked in this system.

A country that went to a lot of wars is good at war. When a war breaks out in a peace-keeping nation, it’s difficult to keep the peace. This is the paradox of war and peace.