The Pentagon announced its readiness to transfer ATACMS missiles to Kiev after Biden's decision
Pentagon spokesman Douglas Bush said that the US military is ready to hand over ATACMS missiles to the Ukrainian authorities if US President Joe Biden gives his consent to this. Ammunition has even been selected, rocket launchers are almost ready. "We are ready to act quickly," says Bush. Details are in the material of "Gazeta.Ru».
The United States is ready to transfer tactical ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster munitions to Ukraine as soon as US President Joe Biden gives his consent to this. This was reported to Bloomberg by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Procurement, Logistics and Technology Douglas Bush.
According to him, the Pentagon "has been preparing for such a development for a long time." Experts have already selected the missiles that the United States plans to transfer to Ukraine.
Douglas Bush said that ATACMS missiles can be launched from the same launchers that Ukrainians are already using to launch GPS-guided missiles in batches of six at a time. The official added that minor changes are needed to re-equip the installation: some cables and software.
Missiles will allow you to hit 300 km
ATACMS (English Army TACtical Missile System - Army Tactical Missile System) is a solid-fuel tactical ballistic missile of the "ground-to-ground" class. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
The flight range is from 25 to 300 km (the APU now uses modifications with a firing range of up to 70 km). Capable of carrying from 300 to 950 cluster munitions. The cost of each rocket is about $1 million.
"We would really like to have them [missiles]," Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview with ABC newspaper.
The positive outcome of negotiations with the US authorities on the supply of ATACMS to Ukraine has been reported many times.
On September 9, ABC TV channel said that the missiles will be included in a new package of American military assistance to Ukraine. On September 22, NBC, citing sources, reported that US President Joe Biden promised his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky to transfer ATACMS. There is still no official confirmation of this information.
"With regard to the supply of long-range missiles to the Kiev regime, it should be understood that this type of weapon will be used by the criminal regime of Kiev mainly for terrorist purposes for attacks on social facilities and residential areas of the cities of Donbass and Crimea," warned the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
Not a guarantee of victory
The Ukrainian side claims that it is not going to strike at the territory of the Russian Federation and recognizes that missiles will not change the situation at the front.
"Even when we get the Taurus, and we will get them, even if we get ATACMS, it still won't compensate for the difference in the number that the Russian Federation had and the range of these missiles," Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said on the Rada TV channel.
Earlier it was reported that Estonia will purchase ATACMS (with the ability to hit targets at a distance of 300 km) together with HIMARS launchers from the United States. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2025.
Ukraine is also waiting for the transfer of Taurus cruise missiles (an analogue of Storm Shadow, which have already been delivered) of the air-to-ground class from Germany. Their range of destruction is up to 500 km. In Germany, they fear that Kiev will use missiles to strike targets on Russian territory.
Alexey Permyakov
