Washington [US], May 6: The United States will soon receive many ATACMS long-range missiles to add to its stockpile and enable supplies to allies and partners like Ukraine.
US Assistant Secretary of the Army Doug Bush in charge of procurement, logistics and technology recently said that the US ordered a "large number" of long-range ATACMS missiles many years ago and are now about to be delivered, "just in time." to be able to support Ukraine without affecting the readiness" of the US military. "There are a lot of ATACMS coming off the production line," Mr. Bush said, according to Newsweek magazine on May 5.
ATACMS is the abbreviation for Army Tactical Missile System, with a range of up to 300 km. Last year, the US provided a shorter-range version to Ukraine but recently admitted it had quietly transferred the 300 km version this year after a period of consideration.
The Pentagon is concerned that providing these ballistic missiles to Ukraine will deplete the US arsenal, affecting military readiness, as well as the risk of Kyiv using missiles to attack its territory. Russia escalated the conflict.
Ukraine began using ATACMS in October 2023 to attack Russian military bases. At that time, the rocket used was a form of "mother bomb", containing many smaller shells inside.
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in April that President Joe Biden secretly approved the supply of many ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in February.
Over the weekend, Reuters quoted a US official revealing that Washington quietly sent a long-range version of ATACMS to Ukraine to attack Russian targets in the Crimea peninsula in mid-April. These missiles are believed to be part of in the $300 million aid package that the US announced in mid-March. US officials said they did not publicize the transfer of ATACMS at Ukraine's request for operational security reasons.
"We've sent some and will send more as we have more authority and budget," Sullivan said. The US administration recently approved nearly $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, part of a larger foreign aid package for Israel and the Indo-Pacific region.
ATACMS missiles can be launched from the HIMARS launcher that Ukraine owns, allowing the country to attack high-value Russian targets far from the front line. Ukraine has also been provided with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles by Britain and France. Paris calls this missile SCALP.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper