Experts explained which systems Russian troops can oppose to these weapons
American ATACMS missiles are long—range weapons that the United States has refused to transfer to Kiev until recently. However, in October, about 20 of these missiles without a GPS system were received by Ukraine and, according to the country's President Vladimir Zelensky, used in combat. Izvestia was looking into how dangerous ATACMS missiles are and how Russia can respond.
When the United States handed over ATACMS missiles to Ukraine
In October, the United States approved the shipment to Ukraine of the first batch of army tactical missile systems ATACMS with a range of 165 km. The New York Times writes that we are talking about 20 missiles. It should be noted that Ukraine has been seeking the supply of these missiles for many months.
The shipment of weapons was soon confirmed both in the US White House and in Ukraine. So, the deputy of the Ukrainian Rada Oleksiy Goncharenko said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces used ATACMS in the attack on Berdyansk in the Zaporozhye region on October 17.
The wreckage of the ATACMS missile shot down by the Russian air defense in the Berdyansk area
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA
Along with this, Izvestia has at its disposal footage of the wreckage of the downed ATACMS missile in one of the directions in the zone of its own.
The United States handed over ATACMS to Kiev without GPS, said Bild journalist Julian Repke. According to him, this decision was made because Russian troops successfully jam such systems.
Commenting on the information about the supply of ATACMS, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Washington had made a grave mistake that would entail certain consequences.
Assembly of the ATACMS missile at a defense enterprise in the USA
Image Source: Photo: сommons.wikimedia.org
"We have repeatedly warned the administration against rash steps. They explained that the pumping of weapons by the Kiev regime seriously undermines strategic and regional security. The United States continues to push for a direct clash between NATO and Russia," the diplomat added.
ATACMS rocket: characteristics and flight range
ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) surface–to-surface cruise missiles are also known under the serial number MGM-140. They were created in 1986 and adopted in 1991. ATACMS was actively used during the war in Afghanistan and Iraq: during Operation Desert Storm, these missiles destroyed the radar and the accumulation of enemy equipment. Lockheed Martin, one of the world's largest arms manufacturers, produces missiles.
The range of ATACMS missiles, depending on the modification, is 165 and 300 km. This light rocket weighing about 1.7 kg and with a wingspan of up to 1.4 m is designed to use relatively inexpensive ammunition. The radius of the lesion is a maximum of 15 m.
Launch of the ATACMS rocket from the HIMARS installation
Image Source: Photo: TASS/Zuma
ATACMS makes it possible to fire at a high pace and accurately hit specified targets, developing a speed of about 3 Mach (3579 km / h, supersonic). The cost of the latest modification of missiles reaches $ 1.5 million per unit. In total, over 3,7 thousand missiles were produced.
ATACMS are guided missiles, although they travel most of the way along a rigidly defined trajectory, and then move under the control of an inertial guidance system or satellite navigation (this depends on the type of ammunition).
Today, ATACMS are in service with about 10 countries: in the United States itself, as well as in Poland, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Bahrain, the UAE and South Korea.
ATACMS missile launches during exercises in South Korea
Image source: Photo: 8th United States Army/Handout via REUTERS
Since it is known that Ukraine has received ATACMS with conventional inertial guidance and a range of up to 165 km, we are probably talking about the very first modification from 1991, the M39 Block-1. The advantage of this option is its adaptability to any modification of the HIMARS MLRS.
Experts note that Russian Iskanders with a range of over 400 km and a speed of 6-7 Mach are much more advanced than ATACMS.
How will Russia respond to the supply of ATACMS
Russia will be able to repel ATACMS attacks, and the very fact of the delivery of these long-range missiles harms Ukraine and creates an additional threat, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 18 at a press conference at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.
"ATACMS will not be able to radically change the situation on the contact line. This is impossible," the Russian leader stressed.
At present, it is absolutely clear that the United States is related to the conflict in Ukraine and is increasingly involved in it themselves, the Russian president added.
Anti-aircraft missile system "Tor" in the zone of a special military operation
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
According to retired military expert Colonel Viktor Litovkin, the supply of these missiles is just advertising noise. He noted that the Russian Armed Forces have every opportunity to shoot down these shells — these supplies will not give Ukraine any advantages. These missiles fly along a ballistic curve at a range of 136 km, there are no tricks there.
"Therefore, if our complexes, the same Tor or Buk, I'm not talking about the S-400, detect this missile, they will definitely shoot it down," he said.
Litovkin noted that the same hype was around the transfer of HIMARS MLRS, Leopard tanks, Abrams, Storm Shadow missiles — but everything is successfully destroyed by our servicemen.
In confirmation of this, exclusive footage of the wreckage of the downed long-range American ATACMS missile appeared at the disposal of Izvestia on October 17. The missile was shot down by Russian air defense systems in one of the directions in the special operation zone.
Maya Trepova
