President Joe Biden has confirmed the US is still mulling over
whether to send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS)
ballistic missiles to Ukraine. What are these weapons? What are
their characteristics? And why has Russia warned that their
delivery to Kiev might drag Washington into a direct confrontation
with Moscow? Sputnik explains.
Thats still in play was Joe Bidens four-word answer to a
reporter outside the White House on Monday after being asked
whether the US plans to deliver ATACMS to Ukraine. He did not
elaborate.
Made to be used by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket
System road-mobile multiple rocket launchers which the US began to
send to Ukraine last summer, and older M270 Multiple Launch Rocket
Systems (M270s) sent by Germany, Italy, Norway, and the UK, ATACMS
have been touted by US media and politicians as one of the most
fearsome conventional weapons in Americas arsenal.
What are ATACMS Used For, What is Their Range, How Fast
Can They Fly, and How Accurate are They?
Created in the mid-1980s at the twilight of the Cold War and
entering into service with the US Army in early 1991, just in time
for a US-led war against Saddam Husseins Iraq, ATACMS are a
solid-fuel, surface-to-surface ballistic missile with an effective
firing range of up to 300 km, and a maximum velocity during boost
phase of up to Mach 3, or 1 km/second, making them difficult to
intercept using older air defense systems.
ATACMS characteristics vary wildly depending on model, block
number, and configuration. For example, while they can be armed
with 500 pound (230 kg) penetrating high explosive blast
fragmentation warheads, they can also be fitted with other
explosives weighing anywhere from 160 and 560 kg, including
anti-personnel and material cluster bomblets.
There are also notable differences in the weapons guidance
systems, with older variants relying on inertial guidance, while
newer missiles include built-in GPS.
Where Have ATACMS Been Used Before and What Countries
Have Them?
Along with the 1991 Gulf War, ATACMS were used extensively
during the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the 2000s.
Besides the US military, the missiles are operated by just a
handful of US partners and clients, including NATO allies Greece,
Turkiye, Poland, and Romania, as well as South Korea, Bahrain,
Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Australia, Taiwan, Lithuania,
Estonia, and Morocco have either signed contracts on the purchase
of the weapons, or submitted formal requests to do so.
How Much Do ATACMS Co...