Biden has allowed Ukraine to unleash the US Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) on Russia, capable of killing anyone within 45 feet of the blast.
Each ATACMS missile carries a WDU18 ‘blast fragmentation warhead’, equivalent to 500 pounds of TNT, which it can launch to a range of 300 kilometers.
According to United Nations estimates, the missiles are capable of making houses “uninhabitable” up to a radius of 55 meters, and blowing out windows and human eardrums even further, as far as 500 meters and 50 meters respectively.
The high-speed, rocket-propelled munition is designed to evade interceptions and deliver precision or guided cluster munitions via specialized onboard GPS.
Ukrainian leaders have long sought US permission to launch ATACMS and other long-range missiles into Russian territory – in an effort to blunt Moscow’s efforts to supply troops and weapons to the front lines of their invasion.
Early reports suggest Biden has only authorized missile strikes on Russia’s Kursk region: territory Ukrainian forces seized earlier in 2024 in an aggressive surprise move to change the balance of negotiations that could end the war .
But the go-ahead for the ATACMS has been accused by some, including Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, of “adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation.”
News that Biden has authorized Kiev to launch long-range American-made missiles at Russia has renewed attention to the capabilities of these weapons. Above, a US Army photo of an Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) fired from an M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System
Above, U.S. Army Sergeant and Rifleman Ian Ketterling prepares the crane to load an ATACMS onto a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in Queensland, Australia, on July 26, 2023
The ATACMS, produced by major US defense and aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin, can be adapted for GPS-guided precision strikes or for cluster bombs of varying range, opening in mid-air to drop hundreds of dispersed bombs.
Each ATACMS warhead can pack between 300 and 950 submunitions, which are camouflaged to be visually indistinguishable from less advanced, unguided M26 rockets that can be fired from the same launchers.
Masking the ATACMS as a standard Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) payload helps prevent enemy combatants from targeting these more expensive missiles.
When an ATACMS ‘airbust’ fuze setting is used for maximum cluster bombardment, the total impact area of the weapon can exceed a radius of 500 meters (1,640 feet).
The missile, which is road-mobile and easily stored thanks to its solid fuel, was first used by the United States in combat during the first Gulf War in 1991.
ATACMS have since been exported to several US allies, including Bahrain, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studiesa think tank from Washington DC.
Above are specifications of the ATACMS system from the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin
Vladimir Jabarov, deputy head of foreign affairs in the Russian parliament, accused Biden of ‘incitement’World War IIIfurther accused him of making plans to “reduce the degree of freedom for Trump” ahead of the newly elected president’s inauguration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has spelled out these risks in more threatening terms, saying in September that long-range strikes could “dramatically change the nature of the conflict.”
“This will mean that the NATO countries – the United States and the European countries – are at war with Russia,” Putin said in September, according to the Associated press.
Despite the perceived risk of escalation, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz said the ATACMS would likely not even be sufficient to thwart Russia’s real long-range threats against Ukraine.
Lt. Col. Dietz noted that Russia has made extensive use of long-range glide bombs, winged, sometimes retrofitted explosives fired from well beyond the ATACMS’s 200-mile range, much deeper into Russia.
According to American, South Korean and Ukrainian estimates, as many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia.
U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea has also supplied Russia with significant amounts of ammunition to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.
US and Ukrainian officials have described the move to allow the use of these long-range missiles as a response to this North Korea’s decision to send troops to assist Putin’s forces in the regional conflict.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been cautious in his rhetoric surrounding these newly granted authorizations tied to U.S. military aid.
File image of a US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) firing a missile into the East Sea during a joint missile exercise between South Korea and the US
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“Today many in the media are talking about the fact that we have been allowed to take appropriate measures,” Zelenskyy said.
‘But blows are not given with words. Such things are not announced,” he added. “The missiles will speak for themselves.”
Before this moment, Ukraine had already fired its own, less advanced weapons up to 1,000 kilometers away at Russia – even though public estimates suggest the country lacks the domestic production to cause serious long-term damage.
Experts have stated that while US and NATO forces appear to hope that these missiles will serve as a deterrent and favorably influence future ceasefire negotiations, the reality may depend on the specific rules the US has given Kiev on its use.
Authorization to strike anywhere within range in Russia could dramatically compromise the Kremlin’s ability to respond and operate tactically on the battlefield.
But if the attacks are limited to the Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region, Russia could easily shift its command centers and air units to hidden zones nearby, undermining any attempt to limit Russia’s attack on Ukrainian forces.