In September, the world media was full of reports that the United States had agreed to provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles, and immediately published refuting statements. About the next so-discussed "miracle weapon" for Kiev, its features, as well as the prospects of influencing the course of a special military operation — in the material of TASS
The non-transferable rocket
The United States has repeatedly stated that it is impossible to transfer operational and tactical ATACMS missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). In July 2022, shortly after the announcement of the delivery of M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems to Kiev, Assistant to the US President for National Security Jake Sullivan said : "There are certain things that, according to the US President [Joe Biden], he is not ready to transfer, these include long-range ATACMS missiles."
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| A model of the HIMARS launcher with advanced Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) missiles — a replacement for ATACMS. |
| Source: Viktor Bodrov/ TASS |
According to the newspaper La Repubblica, Washington was concerned that Kiev was taking uncoordinated actions, in particular, carrying out attempts on Russian politicians and committing terrorist acts on the Crimean Bridge.
However, by the end of 2022, the US position began to change. The British The Times reported on the Pentagon's "tacit approval" of more determined and aggressive attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to carry out strikes on Russian territory using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including Soviet Tu-141 reconnaissance missiles packed with explosives - improvised cruise missiles. In February 2023, it became known that the United States had allocated another package of military assistance to Kiev, which included GLSDB ammunition with a range of about 150 km, but the United States continued to refuse Ukraine ATACMS, citing modest reserves in its own arsenals. Meanwhile, in the spring of this year, the UK provided the APU with Storm Shadow cruise missiles in a variant with a range of about 250 km.
Another surge of talk about the possible transfer of ATACMS to Ukraine began in September, when ABC reported on the consideration of including missiles in a new package of American military assistance to Kiev. "They will be sent," the channel quoted an unnamed US official as saying. Reuters, citing sources, said that the US presidential administration is close to sending ATACMS with a cluster warhead to Ukraine. However, on September 21, Jake Sullivan announced that US President Joe Biden had decided to deny Kiev these long-range missiles for the time being.
HIMARS on maximalki
The ATACMS Operational Tactical Missile System (Army Tactical Missile System) is developed and manufactured by the American defense corporation Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin). It fires a family of surface—to-surface ballistic missiles with a maximum launch range of 300 km. This is about three times the capabilities of multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and twice the capabilities of the Soviet Tochka—U missile defense systems used by Ukraine until recently. The ATACMS warhead weighs 226 kg. According to the manufacturer, the ATACMS missile was "very successfully" used during the US invasion of Iraq (Operation Desert Storm). The ammunition is "packed" in a transport and launch container (TPC), can be used with a tracked launcher of the M270 MLRS multiple launch rocket system and the M142 HIMARS wheeled MLRS. The first vehicle can carry two such missiles, the second one.
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| American M142 HIMARS missile launchers will allow Taiwan to hit mainland Chinese targets. |
| Source: armyrecognition.com |
MLRS and HIMARS were transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine The United States and the United Kingdom in 2022. In addition, Kiev received from Germany the MARS II MLRS — the German version of the MLRS. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has repeatedly reported the destruction of these machines.
The main ammunition of these jet systems is the GMLRS guided missile. It has a caliber of 227 mm, a warhead of various types (including a cassette) weighing about 90 kg, is capable of hitting targets with specified coordinates at a distance of over 70 km. According to open sources, the cost of one rocket is about $ 168 thousand. Ammunition is delivered in factory transport and launch containers of six in a single unit placed on the launcher. This unit can be replaced by a TPC with a single ATACMS missile.
"In terms of combat characteristics, this is somewhat analogous to our Tochka-U," military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces Yuri Knutov told TASS, noting that ATACMS has several modifications. — One of the modifications has a range of 300 km, the old modification with a cluster warhead has a range of 140 km. A more modern missile with <...> submunitions with the possibility of individual targeting has a range of 240 km."
Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs), which Kiev began to receive even before the start of its own, were presented as an effective means of countering tank units. "When used correctly - and Javelin is very easy to use - it can mean the destruction of dozens of armored vehicles <...>, lead to a number of humiliating and demoralizing defeats of Russian troops," Popular Mechanics magazine reasoned . "One of the best, most effective weapons in our arsenal are Javelin missiles," he said . US President Joe Biden during a meeting with employees of the Lockheed Martin plant that produces these missiles. In Ukraine, children were named after American ammunition and murals were painted on the walls of houses. In practice, the AFU servicemen were insufficiently trained to use these "very simple" ATGMs, independently translated instructions for them, and there were not enough batteries and cooling systems for the complexes. "There were misfires, usually one of the four shoots, and then there were continuous explosions, or in general [shells] exploded at 50 m, not reaching the target," the Russian Defense Ministry cited the opinion of a Ukrainian prisoner of war about the use of NLAW and Javelin. As a result, the weapon quickly disappeared from the media agenda.
Unlike the Western subsonic cruise missiles Storm Shadow and SCALP, which are already available in the APU, ATACMS accelerates to five speeds of sound and rises high into the stratosphere, which makes it difficult to intercept. Cruise missiles donated to Kiev are launched from aircraft that are more vulnerable than ground-based launchers, and of which the APU has fewer.
The US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates each munition at more than $1 million.
"These missiles, by and large, are suitable for decommissioning in terms of storage periods. <...> The transfer to Ukraine will lead to the fact that, firstly, disposal will take place for free, and on the other hand, new missiles can already be purchased in place of old missiles, replenishing the arsenal with more modern weapons," Knutov noted, expressing the opinion that the American side does not hide that Ukraine is for them "a testing ground for new weapons and the destruction of old ones."
How to deal with ATACMS
Alexey Sakantsev, a reserve officer of the missile forces and artillery, a combat veteran, explained in an interview with TASS that, unlike the Russian Iskander-M missile defense system with a quasi-ballistic missile, widely used in a special military operation, ATACMS is not designed to break through missile defense systems. Iskander has a serious advantage, in particular, it can maneuver, it has a higher speed, that is, it is much less vulnerable to air defense (air defense — approx. TASS). He flies on, <...> his task is the destruction of air defense facilities. ATACMS was not created for this — the missile does not maneuver, does not put interference, does not shoot false targets, as Iskander does," the expert said, while expressing the opinion that the Russian missile system is much more expensive.
"One of the simplest goals"
Another example of the advertised weapons is the Turkish reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Bayraktar TB2 ("Bayraktar-TB2"). Drones practically ceased to appear in the lists of destroyed targets submitted by the Russian military department in the first months of the special operation in Ukraine. "We were scared: "Bayraktar", "Bayraktar". It turned out to be one of our simplest goals. It flies in a straight line, at the same speed, at a certain height. Therefore, this is the simplest goal for us," the Russian Defense Ministry quoted the words of a serviceman of the calculation of the anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) "Tor", who shot down a Turkish UAV on the second day of the SVO. One of the downed Bayraktar ru/armiya-i-opk/15492371" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">was demonstrated at the trophy exhibition within the framework of the Army-2022 forum. According to American military expert Samuel Bendett, during the year of hostilities Kiev lost almost all drones of this type, and the remaining ones are used for reconnaissance.
Knutov explained the declared success of the use of American missiles in Iraq by the low efficiency of outdated Soviet-made air defense systems. "In the air defense of the modern Russian army, there are mainly modern digital anti—aircraft missile systems with high combat characteristics that are several times superior to Soviet developments," he said. Among the means of intercepting ATACMS, Knutov named anti-aircraft missile systems S-400, S-300PM2, S-300V4, S-350 Vityaz, Buk-M2, Buk-M3. "Yes, and the Shells worked well on [Ukrainian] Tochka missiles," he added. However, the expert suggested that it is extremely difficult to cover all sections of the front with air defense means because of its long length, which is about 1 thousand km.
Sakantsev expressed the opinion that the most effective and cost-effective way to combat ATACMS is to destroy their carriers on the routes or at the points of deployment, loading and maintenance, as well as striking the AFU field headquarters responsible for the use of American missiles.
Waiting for a miracle
Deliveries of ATACMS to Ukraine as a whole will not change the course of hostilities, as the appearance of the previous advertised samples of Western weapons — anti-tank complexes, drones, tanks and cruise missiles on the battlefields did not change. This is what military experts, politicians, as well as Ukrainian officials themselves say.
Politico newspaper quotes the words of representatives of the administration of US President Joe Biden that ATACMS is not a "magic bullet" and will not become a "game-changing weapon." According to journalists, the fighting has been going on for a year and a half, while the main armament is artillery, and the advance of the AFU in the counteroffensive is "measured in feet, not miles," which is caused by Russian minefields.
"Even if we get ATACMS, it still won't compensate for the difference in the number [of missiles] 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.
"As the Russian-Ukrainian conflict drags on, the Western public is being inspired that one or another wonderful weapons system will turn the tide of hostilities. These are Javelin, HIMARS, and [tank] Leopard, and Storm Shadow, and [infantry fighting vehicle] Bradley, and [fighter] F-16, and now also depleted uranium ammunition, but none of these weapons could radically change the course of the conflict, the Chinese newspaper Global Times wrote . — It's not about who has the most brilliant toys, but who has the most troops, tanks and artillery, who can deploy them quickly. In this respect, Russia is clearly superior to Ukraine."
Victor Bodrov
