Index – Abroad – Ukraine can receive super weapons from America

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has finalized an agreement with the United States on missiles of the ATACMS long-range military combat missile system, Kyiv Independent reports. The agreement was reached when Zelensky called his American counterpart, Joe Biden, on April 22.

The lower house of the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, voted on the $61 billion aid bill on April 20, under the shadow of political infighting, after a long political tug-of-war. The vote was preceded by a lot of debates and party political fights, while the disputing parties hurled harsher and harsher accusations at each other. Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger went so far as to warn that House Speaker Mike Johnson would go down in the history books because Ukraine lost the war because of him.

Although the proposal is still waiting to be voted on by the Senate and signed by Joe Biden, it requires the Biden administration to deliver long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine if possible after the law enters into force.

Washington thought things through

The United States already delivered this type of missile to Ukraine in October 2023, but then only the older M-39 models with a shorter range of 165 kilometers were on the menu. The reason for this is that for a long time Washington stuck to its position of not providing long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Ukraine has done everything to put pressure on its Western ally. At the beginning of April, the Ukrainian president directly stated that if the Congress does not vote, Ukraine will lose.

Congress must be told clearly: if it does not help Ukraine, then Ukraine will lose the war

said the Ukrainian president.

The reason for the resistance of the United States was that it did not want to provide Ukraine with weapons that could be used for strikes inside the territory of Russia. In 2022, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed concern that the delivery of ATACMS could increase tensions between the U.S. and Russia to the point that it could lead to another world war.

The fact that Ukraine’s other Western allies had a similar opinion did not help matters either. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also opposed sending long-range German Taurus missiles to Kiev. The chancellor’s fears are the same: he is afraid that with this step Germany would also drift into the war.

Now, however, it seems that Washington is open to Ukraine acquiring the M-39A1 model, developed from the previous type, with a much longer range. If the missiles reach Ukraine, the warring country can attack targets up to 300 kilometers away, i.e. it can also attack the Russian hinterland.

NBC News first reported in February that the White House had changed its mind and was ready to provide longer-range ATACMS missile variants to Kiev if Congress approved the new funding package.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, there are four main priorities

Following his meeting with a bipartisan US delegation, Zelenskyy identified four priorities for Ukraine:

• air defense,
• modern artillery,
• long range weapons,
• fast relief supplies.

“Today’s result is that all details have been finalized in the ATACMS agreements for Ukraine. Thank you, Mr. President, thank you, Congress, thank you, America,” Zelensky said in his speech.

As a result of the developments, it seems that one of Zelensky’s wishes is coming true. According to US Senator Mark Warner, shipments containing long-range missile systems will be ready for delivery within days. However, this requires the Senate to pass the additional appropriations bill on April 23 and US President Joe Biden to sign it by April 24.

“The good news is that it is finally happening. It should have happened six months ago. The next best time is now, this week. We have seen the Ukrainians overachieve. If you step back for a moment, consider the fact that for most of my life, most of America’s defense forces have been focused on Russia. Now and in the last two years, with less than 3 percent of our defense budget for the last two years, the Ukrainians have destroyed 87 percent of the existing Russian ground forces, 63 percent of their tanks, 32 percent of their armored personnel carriers, without a single American soldier killed, only Ukraine for his bravery and the equipment he received from us and our European allies,” Warner said.

Even this can be just a small ray of hope

Of course, it is questionable to what extent the Ukrainian disadvantage resulting from the delay in voting on the American aid law can still be remedied. In recent months, a particularly unfavorable situation has developed for the Ukrainians at the front. Ammunition has run out in several sections of it, and there is also a large shortage of basic supplies. As a result, the Ukrainians were forced to give up key settlements such as Avgyijivka, which they had successfully defended for months.

Although Kiev is happy to receive the missiles, they are not really a miracle either. For that, hundreds of pieces would be needed, and according to the current news, around sixty pieces can be delivered to Ukraine. It is not by chance that such a small quantity is sent, as Lockheed Martin ceased production in 2007. A total of 3,700 pieces of the weapon were made, and most of them were shipped to allied countries, so there are hardly a few of them in America’s weapons warehouses.

To Kiev thanks to the weapon to be a significant success, it would need hundreds of such missiles, so Ukraine cannot significantly influence the current state of the war with the M–39M1 models, but it can provide the opportunity for some attacks of symbolic importance.

However, there may be an underlying intention behind the American decision. Washington is confident that by handing over the MGM-140 ATACMS missiles, the American government can put pressure on the German leadership to deliver the Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

According to an expert, thousands of ATACMS missiles are needed for success

Petro Chernik, a military expert and reservist colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who spoke on the matter, explained that the transfer of the missiles is a strategically important decision, but the quantity of weapons plays a very important role, Unian reported.

Two flew to Dzhankoy and we achieved excellent results, we were able to destroy up to five anti-aircraft systems and a unique device by synchronizing the operation of the radars. But in a strategic sense, this does not undermine or break the war itself

– said Csernik.

In his opinion, in terms of logistics, we can talk about a turnaround if, of both models, the cassette version is available. There is also a sufficient amount of the version with a range of 165 km and the high-explosive version with a range of 300 km. “Then the Crimean bridge could really be in danger. This is the philosophy behind our success. That’s why I emphasize: quantity, quantity and once more quantity,” the colonel stated.

A few tens of missiles are very good, but hundreds or even thousands are needed

he stated.

According to him, there are at least 2,000 different types of ATACMS missiles in American warehouses. He sees collecting them from the warehouses and shipping them to Ukraine as not much of a problem, and once the weapons arrive, it will only take a few weeks to get them up and running and ready for use.

(Cover image: an ATACMS missile is fired On July 29, 2017, on the east coast of South Korea into the East Sea during a joint South Korean-US missile exercise aimed at countering North Korea’s ICBM tests. Photo: South Korean Ministry of Defense / Getty Images)