WRITTEN BY Lindsey Neas. Dec 15, 2022
ATACMS firing back in 2006. Image Credit: U.S. Army
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is repeatedly rebuffed in his requests for the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. He knows these precision-strike missiles, with their range of 190 miles, would fundamentally change the course of the war if used against Russian supply lines.
The Biden administration contends that ATACMS missiles aren’t needed, and, if provided, could be used against Russia directly. It fears that giving these missiles to Ukraine would escalate the war, a concern stoked daily by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian forces occupy about 40,600 square miles of Ukrainian territory. Most of Crimea and an arc along the coast sit beyond the 50-mile range of U.S.- and British-supplied missiles, making it an operational sanctuary for Russian resupply efforts.
Putin’s frontline troops depend on vulnerable supply lines in Ukraine that stretch back 200 miles. If attacked in depth, those routes would prove to be the Russian military’s greatest weakness. This is Russia’s jugular, and Putin knows this. In requesting ATACMS missiles, Zelensky proposes a deep-strike assault to substantially degrade Russia’s capability to resupply.
Historical Precedent for ATACMS
A nearly forgotten campaign ordered in 1944 by General Dwight Eisenhower is instructive. Eisenhower’s campaign set out to destroy Germany’s ability to resupply its forces at Normandy, and it was the foundation on which the success of the D-Day landings was built.
Surprisingly, Eisenhower’s plan to bomb German supply routes met with heated opposition, much as Zelensky faces today. Ike was told the plan lacked merit, it would take nine months, and continued bombing of German industry should remain the priority — not enemy supply lines. Undeterred, Eisenhower threatened to resign if not given temporary command of all heavy bombers in northwest Europe.
Known as the Transportation Plan, the bombing of French railways started in March and ran through mid-August. By D-Day, the French rail system from Normandy to Paris and beyond was near total collapse. Germany had 50 divisions in France, Belgium, and Holland, and could not get them to Normandy.
The history of Eisenhower’s interdiction campaign reads like a how-to guide for Zelensky’s military planners. While the means of delivery differs — WWII bomberformations dropping countless tons of ordnance from 30,000 feet vs. today’s precision-guided missiles — their objective, the destruction of enemy supply lines, is identical. Yet while Eisenhower understood the need to bomb not just the Normandy coast but deep inside France, U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security team, in refusing to ship long-range missiles, limits the reach of Ukraine’s military to 50 miles, leaving most Russian supply lines untouched. In sum, the ATACMS missile, while no silver bullet, offers sorely needed capabilities to Ukraine’s military.
Biden also fears Ukraine would use ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. Zelensky, understanding this, recently invited the president to deploy an American target verification cell into his military command structure. Biden should accept the offer, and with brutal frankness underscore his concerns by promising to halt American aid should a missile somehow be launched against Russia.
Load the C-17s
Biden’s greatest concern involves escalation. Putin’s constant threats — his escalation narrative — linking the provision of ATACMS to Ukraine with possible nuclear retaliation, make clear the tenuous state of his deployed forces. A Ukrainian assault on Russian supply lines would cripple their frontline forces. Putin has not gone nuclear, but he desperately needs Biden to believe he will. The Russian leader is exploiting the nuclear grey zone, directly and through his functionaries, stoking the U.S. president’s concerns about escalation. While Putin’s true intentions are unknown, we do know this: Zelensky sees the opportunity. He understands the risk. He wants the missiles.
Putin’s threat narrative, by delaying or preventing the provision of ATACMS, purchases the one great intangible, time, that failing militaries never have and that his struggling forces desperately need. Time permits him to increase production of heavy trucks, weapons, and munitions. It allows Russia to buy drones and missiles, and to purchase artillery shells by the shipload. The Kremlin can levy conscripts, destroy pipelines, and exploit NATO’s divisions. With winter encroaching and Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, time allows for exposure and disease — Putin hopes — to break Ukraine’s will.
Whether Biden calls Putin’s bluff and provides Ukraine with the long-range munitions it requires, or bows to threats and in doing so condemns her people to a war of unknown duration and possible territorial concessions, remains to be seen.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense reports that the Russian army today struggles to support its frontline forces. Their difficulties present an opportunity Ukraine could exploit if provided the missiles Zelensky so often requests. Russia’s difficulties also present Biden with an exceedingly difficult choice.
Load the C-17s. Provide Ukraine’s military with the missiles they require. We must cease taking the counsel of our fears.
Lindsey Neas is a former Army armor officer. He served for 15 years as the military aide for several members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, and was Chief of Staff to the Graham-Talent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission in 2009-2010.
WRITTEN BYLindsey Neas
Lindsey Neas is a former Army armor officer. He served for 15 years as the military aide for several members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, and was Chief of Staff to the Graham-Talent Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission in 2009-2010
They HAVE to have them.
A savage, brutal fascist power wants to annihilate them. These weapons are the equalizer that is so desperately needed.
You only have to see the content of “Russian Media Monitor” on YouTube to see the demonic hatred of the foul scum.
I could be wrong but the ATACMS wouldn’t do any good until the US repairs the HIMARs so they could be outfitted for ATACMS after Biden had them neutered.
“The full scope of the modifications made to U.S.-supplied HIMARS before their arrival in Ukraine is unclear. One possibility is that the launchers might simply have a dumbed-down version of the standard system’s software that does not have the functionality necessary to launch ATACMS. Minor physical changes could be made to prevent the missiles from working properly if loaded or prevent them from being loaded in the first place, too. However, ATACMS missiles come pre-loaded into launch canisters (often referred to as ‘pods’) that are intended to at least be dimensionally identically and also outwardly appear the same the those loaded with 227mm rockets, which could make physical alternations more complicated.”
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The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that the U.S. military has transferred to Ukraine have been modified to prevent them from firing any variant of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missile, according to a new report today.
Ukrainian HIMARS Can’t Fire Long Range ATACMS Missiles: Report © Lockheed Martin Ukrainian HIMARS Can’t Fire Long Range ATACMS Missiles: Report
ATACMS missiles have been high on the Ukrainian military’s wishlist for some time as they would greatly extend the range the country could hold Russian targets at risk. It can also destroy larger, more heavily fortified targets across its up to nearly 200-mile range. However, American officials have so far denied those requests for fear the missiles could be used to strike targets deeper inside Russia proper, which they worry could lead the Kremlin to seek to further escalate the situation in Ukraine or to retaliate more directly against the United States and its NATO allies.
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The Wall Street Journal first reported on the modifications made to the 6×6 wheeled HIMARS launchers that have been delivered to Ukraine. As of November 23, the U.S. military had transferred or was planning to transfer a total of 38 HIMARS to the Ukrainian armed forces, according to the Pentagon. So far, these launchers, which have had a major impact on the battlefield already, fire M30A1 and M31A1 227mm precision-guided rockets, which have advanced fragmentation and unity high-explosive warheads respectively. Both types have a stated maximum range of at least approximately 43.5 miles (70 kilometers).
Versions of ATACMS have been developed over the years with warheads loaded with different types of submunitions, as well as large unitary high-explosive payloads, and with differing ranges. The shortest-range ATACMS variants can hit targets out to 87 miles (140 kilometers), while the longest-range types can find their mark out to 186 miles (300 kilometers).
Video player from: YouTube (Privacy Policy, Terms)
You can read more about HIMARS’ general capabilities and the munitions that it can fire in this past War Zone explainer.
The full scope of the modifications made to U.S.-supplied HIMARS before their arrival in Ukraine is unclear. One possibility is that the launchers might simply have a dumbed-down version of the standard system’s software that does not have the functionality necessary to launch ATACMS. Minor physical changes could be made to prevent the missiles from working properly if loaded or prevent them from being loaded in the first place, too. However, ATACMS missiles come pre-loaded into launch canisters (often referred to as ‘pods’) that are intended to at least be dimensionally identically and also outwardly appear the same the those loaded with 227mm rockets, which could make physical alternations more complicated.
Without knowing for sure what has changed, it’s also not clear how readily reversible the modifications might be should U.S. policies surrounding the transfer of ATACMSs to Ukraine change in the future.
The Journal’s report raises separate questions about whether or not other alterations may have been made to otherwise limit the capabilities of HIMARS launchers. For instance, it might be possible to integrate some kind of geofencing into the system’s software that could prevent it from accepting target coordinates for locations in Russia even with M30/M31-series rockets. ”
“It’s worth noting that the Ukrainian military has also received versions and derivatives of the U.S.-designed M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), a tracked launcher that can fire the same suite of mention as the HIMARS. However, those vehicles have all come from countries – the United Kingdom, Germany, and France – that have never operated ATACMS. So, it’s unclear if any of these launchers ever had any residual capability to fire ATACMS or have now been similarly modified to prevent them from doing so.”
Quoted from:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukrainian-himars-cant-fire-long-range-atacms-missiles-report/ar-AA14WMcN
Sorry for copying little tidbits and ad references like the AOC things and stuff about butcher blocks lol