Insider: US close to approving supply of ATACMS to Ukraine

The US is considering providing their longest-range missiles yet to be sent to Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing American and European officials.

Kyiv has long been asking the US for the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which has a range of about 190 miles and could be used to strike Russian targets far beyond the front lines, including Crimea, Insider reports.

The UK has already sent Ukraine long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a similar range to ATACMS, which are said to be striking Russian targets with nearly pinpoint accuracy and has encouraged allies to do the same.

Last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of using the missiles to strike the Chonhar bridge, a key span connecting the Russian-held Kherson to Crimea, The Telegraph reported.

Why ATACMS could give Ukraine the fighting edge

ATACMS is ready to use by Ukraine's military. Unlike the British Storm Shadow missiles, which are dropped using vulnerable aircraft, ATACMS rockets can be fired from launchers previously supplied to Ukraine, including the US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers or HIMARS.

The range of ATACMS missiles, between 100 and 190 miles, depending on the model, is superior to the existing HIMARS, that has been hailed by Ukraine for the damage they can wreak.

But After being pummeled last year by HIMARS, Russian forces adapted by moving their command and control nodes out of range, the UK defence minister Ben Wallace told the UK Parliament.

"ATACMS is a long-range guided missile that gives operational commanders the immediate firepower to win the deep battle," says its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

Each missile has a 500-pound blast fragmentation warhead, according to its manufacturer.

They could be a vital weapon to disrupt Russia's logistic and transport hubs and destroy supplies to Putin's forces deep in occupied Ukraine, emboldening the ongoing counteroffensive of Zelenskyy's forces. Almost no ammunition depot, logistic centre, railway, or concentration of Russian troops would be protected from the ATACMs firepower.

Indeed, annexed Crimea, which has massive importance to President Putin, a peninsula that relies on a single span, the Kerch Bridge, to connect it to Russia, would be in the range of the highly sought-after weapon system

ATACMS also has the advantage of being a ballistic rocket missile, with a supersonic speed of Mach 3.5, making it significantly more challenging to intercept. 

Most Americans support the US arming Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022

President Joe Biden has so far been hesitant to send the ATACMS, partly out of concern that Ukraine could use them to strike targets inside Russia and further escalate the conflict.

Another reason for hesitancy from the Biden administration is considering whether the US has enough to spare.

US defence company Lockheed Martin has produced about 4,000 ATACMS over the past two decades, Politico reported, some of which have been sold to allied nations and hundreds of which have been fired by US forces in combat.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that it was not aware of any imminent decision to send ATACMS to Ukraine following the Wall Street Journal report, per Reuters.

However, US and European officials say that behind the scenes, the tone in Washington has recently shifted, and there appears to be a greater appetite to send Ukraine more advanced weapons, per the Journal report.

European officials are hopeful that the US will change its position, as they did with Abrams tanks and HIMARS, per the Journal.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution last week calling for ATACMS to be sent to Ukraine immediately, and GOP senator James Risch said this week that he thought the possibility of them being sent was "quite high."

There is also growing support among the US public to provide weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself. A two-day poll that was concluded last week depicted a sharp rise in backing for arming Ukraine, with 65% of the respondents approving of the shipments compared with 46% in a May poll, Reuters reported.

The Biden administration is also currently considering whether to send Kyiv controversial cluster bombs amid a shortage of artillery ammunition.

When asked last week about the timeline for obtaining ATACMS by The War Zone, Ukraine's Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, replied, "Close."