The US sent ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in secret: Kiev used them against Russian airports

Package delivered in secret

“Axios” writes that the USA secretly delivered a new long-range missile system to Ukraine which used it to bomb airfields in occupied territory, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

– The missiles were included in the $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that Biden approved on March 12 – an anonymous US official told Reuters, without specifying exactly how many missiles were sent.

Biden told his team to include long-range ATACMS in the package, but to do it in secret in order to maintain operational security and the element of surprise for Ukraine, a Reuters source said.

Sullivan: We’ll send more

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed to reporters that a “significant number” of missiles had been sent to Ukraine and added that the US would “send more”.

He said he did Kiev promised to use weapons only inside Ukraine and not on Russian territory. Some of the missiles were contained in a $1 billion arms package for Ukraine that Biden approved, Sullivan added.

On Wednesday, Biden signed into law an aid package providing crucial military aid to Ukraine, ending months of negotiations and debate. The aid package, which was passed by the Senate late Tuesday night, is valuable totaling $95 billion and including a total of nearly $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Transfer of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) stands for celic policy change within the Biden administration, which has so far been cautious about providing long-range missiles to Ukraine due to concerns about escalation.

“Ukraine twice used long-range ATACMS”

Russian President Vladimir Putin knows very well what kind of weapon it is, because Ukraine has already used it in the war.

The US gave ATACMS to Ukraine last month as part of an unexpected defense aid package, with the caveat that the weapons could only be used inside Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has used the long-range ATACMS twice so far – once against a military base in Crimea and the second time against Russian forces east of Berdyansk near the Sea of ​​Azov, according to “Axios”.

Reuters writes that they are missiles first used in the early morning of April 17, when they were launched at the Russian airport in Crimea, about 165 km from the Ukrainian front line, and the second time during the night against Russian forces in the southeast of Ukraine.

As “Axios” writes, this is not the first time that Ukraine has used ATACMS. The USA gave a shorter-range variant that was first used in October 2023. for targeting Russian airfields near Berdyansk and Luhansk, two cities in eastern Ukraine occupied by Russian forces. The runway, nine helicopters, an anti-aircraft defense launcher, a “special vehicle” and ammunition warehouses were damaged in the attack.

What is ATACMS?

The Lockheed Martin surface-to-surface missile system has a maximum range of about 300 km, which is far beyond the capabilities of conventional artillery weapons.

Each projectile is about four meters long, 60 cm in diameter, and can be launched from the American HIMARS mobile launcher, as well as the British and German M270 – two vehicles that Ukraine has used for years. The missiles, also used by the US Marines, they come in at least five different variants with distinctive abilities.

Some can deliver hundreds of smaller bombs like cluster artillery shells given to Ukraine in 2023, while they are others individual warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives. The two cluster versions of the ATACMS have a range of between 25-300 km and can carry 300 or 950 bombs. One is aimed at targets by inertia, like traditional artillery rounds, and the other is assisted by GPS.

The three single-warhead variants have a range of up to 300 km and are all GPS-guided.

Why does Ukraine want ATACMS?

It gives it a new option to hit targets deep behind Russian lines and bolster its limited stockpile of long-range missiles, according to “Axios”.

Kyiv has also received other sophisticated long-range missile systems, such as cruise missiles “Storm Shadow” from Britain and France, or HIMARS and M270 MLRS. But since their introduction, the Russian military has moved its main hubs and troop concentrations out of range of the launchers or into fortified structures, according to the RUSI institute.

“Storm Shadow” projectiles have a shorter maximum range from ATACMS. Also, the ATACMS is launched from the ground while the “storm shadow” is launched from a jet. This means that after selecting the target every time it takes minutes – if not hours – of preparation and flight time before the impact of the “shadow of the storm”, which is why the projectile is only effective against stationary targets.

ATACMS are loaded onto mobile HIMARS and M270 MLRS and can be deployed close to the front lines to be ready to launch and engage targets within minutes. This makes ATACMS effective against both stationary and stationary mobile targets, such as aircraft parked on runways, trucks unloading supplies, artillery guns or air defense systems.

What will Russia do if Ukraine gets ATACMS?

Russian officials are promised retribution if Kyiv receives ATACMS. But Moscow did not significantly escalate the war after similar warnings about “storm shadows,” anti-tank missiles or other weapons that Western allies eventually provided to Ukraine.

Sending ATACMS with a range of up to 300 km was the subject of months of debate in the Biden administration, after the mid-range ones were delivered last September.

The Pentagon initially opposed the deployment of the long-range missiles, fearing a loss of inventory and undermining American readiness, as well as concerns that Ukraine would use them to strike targets deep in Russia. But, the change came after Russia used North Korean long-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine in December and January, and Russian attacks on key Ukrainian infrastructure were also a factor, according to Reuters.

– We warned Russia about those things. They renewed their targets – an American official told the agency.