Experts: Western pilots will use JASSM missiles in Ukraine
Washington and Kiev are working on the technical details of the possible dispatch of high-precision JASSM cruise missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The range of the JASSM will make their carriers – F-16 aircraft – difficult to reach for Russian air defense. According to experts, in theory, new Russian regions and even Moscow could be hit by these missiles. How can Russia respond to this?
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is discussing the possibility of sending long-range cruise missiles JASSM to Ukraine. They can be armed with F-16 fighters previously provided to Kiev, Politico reports, citing White House officials. However, a final decision has not yet been made.
The Biden administration noted that in order to make a decision, the White House and the Pentagon must, among other things, be sure that the missiles can be used, including from Soviet-built aircraft at Kiev's disposal. The Pentagon is working with Ukraine on these technical issues.
Note that JASSM has been manufactured by Lockheed Martin since 2001. An inconspicuous rocket flies along a predetermined route using GPS guidance and an internal navigation system. The weight of the warhead is 450 kg. The range of action, depending on the modification, ranges from 370 to 980 km from the launch point.
B-1, B-2, B-52H bombers, as well as F-16 and F/A-18 fighters can be used as carriers. According to Missile Threat, JASSM was created, among other things, taking into account the capabilities of the Russian S-300 air defense systems and its newer modifications. The rocket can also use the WDL data channel, which allows you to adjust its course.
At the same time, back in May, the industry Telegram channel "The Look of a man in lamps" cited the opinion of the commander of the crew of the Russian Su-34 about the risks that JASSM can create for Russia. "This thing will be more serious even than Storm Shadow. The F-16 can carry two such missiles. Imagine if a hundred of these "jazzmas" were quietly delivered to Kiev, and a volley fired from a dozen F-16s would fly over the Crimean Bridge. This will be a serious test for our air defense," he pointed out.
According to military expert Alexei Leonkov, the leak to the media about the possible transfer of long–range missiles to Ukraine is not accidental - the United States is thus probing the "red lines" according to an established pattern and monitoring Moscow's reaction. However, the interlocutor does not exclude that Washington has "quietly" already supplied the APU with a small batch of missiles.
"JASSM is fully compatible with the F-16. The transfer of fighters to Ukraine assumed that the APU would use not only Storm Shadow and SCALP, but also new missiles. I think that a Western pilot will be put at the helm of a combat vehicle. The fact is that the specifics of the use of weapons presuppose certain experience, and the Ukrainian military, who have been trained to control the F-16 express course, will not be able to complete the task," Leonkov believes.
The transfer of JASSM to Ukraine and the use of these missiles by the enemy will create certain risks for Russia. "The targets can be both the territories of Zaporizhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Crimea, and the capital region. Moreover, by flying UAVs into the Russian capital Kiev could work out possible routes for the passage of missiles," the speaker admitted.
At the same time, it is not worth relying on Washington's ban on the use of American long-range weapons on the territory of Russia, Leonkov stressed. "The statements of the White House on this issue are not worth a damn," he said. At the same time, JASSM is familiar to the Russian Armed Forces from the experience of military operations in Syria.
"In 2018, B-1B bombers fired these missiles from Jordan at Damascus. Then the blow was reflected by Russian-made anti–aircraft missile systems Buk and Tor," the expert recalled. He believes that the Russian military will cope now, but the primary task is to destroy the carrier planes.
"However, the most important issue is not the defeat of the missiles themselves, but the detection of the locations of their carriers – that is, F-16 fighters. Airfields of Ukraine are periodically "straightened" by our long–range weapons, this work will continue," Leonkov concluded.
The likely transfer of JASSM to Kiev will require strengthening the work of Russian intelligence, says Vladimir Popov, aviation general, Honored military pilot of Russia. "It is advisable to destroy cruise missiles at the moment when they will only be in warehouses and arsenals. This requires intelligence," the source stressed.
At the same time, the Russian Armed Forces have means of combating long–range weapons in the air, in particular, the S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, he added.
"The launch of JASSM is usually carried out from low altitudes. The rocket flies along a special trajectory: first it accelerates, receives dynamic energy movement, then dives under the radar lobe and becomes invisible, and immediately before the attack it flies up. But it can be effectively intercepted," Popov explained.
Nevertheless, the main target of the Russian Armed Forces should be the F-16 carrier aircraft, as well as the upgraded Su-24, he believes. "The difficulty is that a missile with a range of over 400 or 900 km will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine not to put the aircraft at great risk and not fly into the affected area of the Russian air defense – otherwise we will take the fighter on auto escort and destroy it," he said.
"Therefore, most likely, the F-16s will work in the Odessa region near the Romanian border, where our conventional missiles reach, but not quickly. This allows the APU to lift the vehicles into the air or hide them, taking them out of harm's way. But the Russian Armed Forces will be able to solve this problem. We have long-range interceptors, hypersonic Daggers and X–101 missiles," Popov concluded.
Anastasia Kulikova
