The Joe Biden administration in the US has for the first time authorised Ukraine to use its ballistic missiles to carry out attacks inside Russia, officials said. Known as Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, it’s expected to be first used in western Russia’s Kursk region, officials added.
The approval comes in the middle of the Biden administration preparing for a smooth transition of power to President-elect Donald Trump, who has clearly said that he will attempt to bring a quick end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two countries have been locked in a war for over 1000 days.
ATACMS Capabilities
Made by Lockheed Martin, the ATACMS are short-range ballistic missiles. Depending upon the model, it has the capability to strike targets 190 miles away with a warhead containing around 375 pounds of explosives.
These ballistic missiles can fly way higher into the atmosphere compared to artillery rockets and even farther. It comes down to the ground at a very high speed due to the gravitational pull, The New York Times reported.
They can be easily fired with the help of the HIMARS mobile launchers, which Ukraine has already received from the US, as well as the older M270 launchers sent to the war-torn nation by Britain and Germany.
While ATACMS are often called “long-range missiles,” they cannot travel as far as cruise missiles or intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Developed in the 1980s to target Soviet targets, the ATACMS missile was made as a rare guided weapon when the US heavily relied on “dumb bombs” as well as other unguided munitions.
At present, the country has two ATACMS versions — a cluster weapon and one that carries a single explosive charge.
Why now?
The US supplied ATACMS to Ukraine last year but the country didn’t approve their usage across the border into Russia. The White House remained concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would respond to it by escalating the war.
“We’re trying to avoid World War III,” President Biden earlier said.
Several Pentagon officials have also opposed sending these missiles to Ukraine due to its limited supplies.