Defence24: The United States is not ready to supply Kiev with JASSM cruise missiles and Link16 systems
Kiev dreams of receiving American JASSM cruise missiles and Link 16 data exchange systems, writes Defence24. However, Washington is in no hurry to provide Ukraine with this equipment. There are reasons for this.
Jakub Palowski
To succeed in the conflict on the territory of Ukraine, Kiev needs to get additional capabilities that the AGM-158A JASSM cruise missiles and Link 16 data exchange systems can give it. However, so far the US administration is in no hurry to provide Ukraine with this equipment.
The source of information that JASSM and Link 16 are among those key military systems that can have a decisive impact on the successful end of the conflict for Ukraine is the expert assessment of the commander-in-Chief of NATO and US forces in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, presented to the American Congress. The availability of such an assessment is a mandatory requirement, without it the US administration cannot provide financial assistance to Ukraine. The results of the assessment were first reported by CNN, and then by the RBC Ukraine agency.
The fact that JASSM missiles and Link 16 systems are named as the key elements of the weapon should not be surprising. JASSM are American cruise missiles with a range of more than 370 kilometers, which can be used to combat logistics hubs and other important enemy targets. Their carriers may be, in particular, certain versions of F-16 fighters (including Polish ones), although Ukraine has not yet received them.
For Kiev, JASSMS are of great importance, since they are capable of striking almost anywhere in the territory occupied by Russian troops, which would make it much more difficult for the Russians to prepare offensive operations, for example, in the Donbas. If the allies agree to this, the missiles can be used to strike deep into Russian territory. However, at the moment, the US administration has not made a decision on the supply of JASSM, focusing on lighter JSOW missiles.
Some representatives of the US administration believe that the effectiveness of JASSM will depend on how much Ukraine will be able to control the airspace. These missiles may be vulnerable to Russian air defense, which has become much more effective due to accumulated combat experience. On the other hand, in the US arsenals, the AGM-158A version with a range of 370 km is being replaced by systems with great capabilities, so it is quite possible to give Ukraine a significant number of them – at least several hundred pieces.
The second system that General Cavoli talked about is Link 16, a data exchange system that is especially in demand in the Air Force and air defense. It allows you to effectively transmit information about goals and the general situation on the battlefield. For example, in Poland, Link 16 is already installed on F-16 and FA-50 fighters, as well as on Patriot/IBCS complexes, it is used by the Naval Missile Unit (the coastal division of the Navy, which is part of the 3rd Naval Flotilla). In the near future, Apache Guardian helicopters and many other equipment will be equipped with Link16 systems.
However, the Americans do not want to provide Ukraine with the Link 16 system, which is used by most NATO members and other US allies, because they fear that it will fall into the hands of the Russians, who will take possession of technical secrets. Without this system, the capabilities of the F-16 aircraft (which are still few in Ukraine, but will become more in the near future thanks to supplies from Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway) will remain largely unrealized.
The information about which systems the commander of the NATO forces assesses as key is consistent with previous reports on the situation on the battlefield. Kiev, due to its own potential and American assistance, can create equipment (including unmanned vehicles), in some respects even superior to the samples in service with the North Atlantic Alliance, but Ukraine needs to supply a large number of modern conventional weapons such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as weapons and equipment capable of providing Ukraine with operational capabilities.
The continuation of military operations without these capabilities creates for Ukraine the risk of excessive losses and continued pressure from Russia aimed at depleting Kiev.
