What are the ATACMS, the long-range missiles that the US delivered to Ukraine and which are already being used

U.S handed over to Ukraine ATACMS long-range ballistic missiles, the same ones that President Joe Biden’s own government refused to supply to Kiev for fear that they could be used against Russian territory and thus worsen the conflict.

The missiles ATACMS were secretly included in the $300 million aid package announced on March 12 and ultimately delivered to Ukraine in early April, according to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Garron Garn.

LOOK: What does the US million-dollar military aid package for Ukraine contain?

“It was not announced at the time that we were providing Ukraine this new capability to maintain Ukraine’s operational security at its request,” Garn said.

The exact number of missiles was not reported ATACMS delivered.

These guided projectiles have a range of 300 kilometers.

In this U.S. Army photo, an early version of an Army tactical missile system is tested Dec. 14, 2021, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (John Hamilton/US Army).

According to the AP agency, Ukraine has already started using ATACMS. Last week, the bombing of a Russian military airfield in Crimea and were also used against Russian forces east of the occupied city of Berdyansk.

Videos posted on social media showed explosions at the military airfield in Crimea product of the attack ATACMS.

“These attacks demonstrated – once again – that Ukraine we can achieve victories on the battlefield when we have the right tools,” said Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has long pressed the administration to send long range weaponssecond AP.

In October last year, Ukraine had already received the ATACMSbut they were a medium-range version, 160 kilometers.

According to The New York Times, In October, the White House sent 20 units of ATACMS for Ukraine.

The Biden administration continues to make clear that the weapons cannot be used to attack targets inside Russia. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday that the president directed his Homeland Security team to send the ATACMS specifying that they would be used within the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

The United States’ ATACMS missile is fired from a launcher of the M142 high mobility artillery rocket system. (U.S. Army photo).

He MGM-140 ATACMS is a long-range tactical ballistic missile designed and manufactured by the American defense company Lockheed Martin.

It uses solid fuel propellant, measures approximately 4 meters in length and has a diameter of 60.96 centimeters.

It has a 226 kilogram WDU-18 fragmentation blast warhead.

According to BBCMundo, the version with a range of 300 kilometers sent by the USA. It has a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system.

Can be launched from a multiple launch pad M270 MLRS or the M142 High Mobility Artillery Missile System, better known as HIMARS.

An M270 multiple launch rocket system during Operation Centaur Forge at the Grafenwoehr training area, Germany, Nov. 6, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Markus Rauchenberger) (Markus Rauchenberger/)

The HIMARS system delivered by the United States to Ukraine. (AFP).

The missile weighs 1,670 kilograms and its maximum speed is Mach 3.

Now Ukraine It has the ability to precisely attack areas controlled by Russia, especially military bases, weapons storage facilities and logistics centers.

According to Lockheed Martin, Attack ATACMS with great precision in all types of weather conditions.

They were used in Iraq. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, 32 projectiles were fired from M270 MLRS rocket launchers. And in 2003, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the United States fired 450 missiles.

As CNN notes, the manufacturing of ATACMS requires time and complex components. LockheedMartin is in full production and makes approximately 500 missiles a year, a company spokesperson said in September.

CNN also highlights that the United States worked behind the scenes to resolve readiness issues, which included purchasing more missiles. ATACMS and the replenishment of US military reserves.

“As a result, we were able to move forward with this ATACMS provision while maintaining the current readiness of our military,” said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Charlie Dietz.

Biden instructed his team to deliver the Long-range ATACMS upon purchase and use by Russia of ballistic missiles North Korea against Ukraine and Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, a US official told CNN.

A military man walks past an MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp missile at the Farnborough Airshow, southwest London, United Kingdom, on July 17, 2018. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP). (BEN STANSALL/)

Since the start of the war in February 2022, Ukraine received HIMARS batteries, delivered by the United States with a range of 80 km. Also have with long-range missiles granted by France and the United Kingdom.

The French are the SCALP, with a range of 150 kilometers and who arrived in July 2023.

British missiles Storm Shadow They arrived in May 2023 and have a range of 250 km.

While the ATACMS They must be fired from the platforms HIMARS any M270 MLRS, he Storm Shadow must be launched from planes Sukhoi 24M. This means that on the battlefield using the American ends up being cheaper.

Furthermore, the launchers of the ATACMS They are more difficult for the enemy to detect and destroy.

However, according to the 20Minutos portal, the ATACMS are much easier to intercept than Storm Shadow, since its ballistic trajectory is predictable. On the other hand, the British missile is more accurate.

The UK’s Storm Shadow long-range missile. (AFP).

ATACMS uses a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system to achieve its objectives. They do not have a search engine to accurately locate their objective. Instead, the Storm Shadow It has an optical locator for terminal guidance that can see and recognize its target.

He ATACMS have a 236 kg warhead, smaller and less destructive than the 450 kg of Storm Shadow.

Jordan Cohen, a political analyst at the Cato Institute, told Newsweek in May 2023 that Storm Shadow missiles “undoubtedly have a huge impact, almost as much as ATACMS”, in terms of range when reaching Russian command centers, supply lines and ammunition depots. They could also, according to Cohen, be fruitful in preventing Russian military advances.

The Storm Shadow is designed to attack targets such as command and control centers, airfields, ports, bridges, power plants, ammunition depots, but also surface ships and submarines in ports.

Source: Elcomercio