Russia failing to gain air superiority as US HIMARS hit SAMs: Pentagon

American weapons have stopped Russia from gaining air superiority in the Ukraine war, the Pentagon has said.

Ukraine has used the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, to strike dozens of Russian command-and-control sites, ammunition depots, and other targets as it begins a counter-offensive to take back the key southern city of Kherson.

In a Pentagon briefing on Friday, an unnamed senior military official praised Ukraine's use of the HIMARS and its army's ability to both shoot down Russian aircraft and stop Moscow's forces from targeting Kyiv's planes, Newsweek reports.

"We know that they've been able to strike surface-to-air missile locations and to destroy some SAMs," the official said, according to Air Force magazine.

"The fact that the Russians continue to not have air superiority certainly says a great deal about Ukrainians' kind of will," the official added.

The US has delivered 12 HIMARS to Ukraine and will provide an additional four. However, Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov has said his country would need "at least 100" HIMARS to reverse Russian gains in the Donbas region.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has also been calling for the US and its western allies to provide combat jets and the training to fly them.

Ukrainian Air Force officials have said they want their pilots to be trained on the American F-16 fighter jet, and when asked why training on them had not yet been given, the Pentagon official said that a decision had not been made on aircraft provision.

"We're looking into this question," the official said, "it is important to identify what the platforms are and will be and make sure that you're providing the right kind of training."

In the meantime, the US will help transfer "significant spare parts" to keep Ukraine's Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi jets flying, the publication reported. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment.