By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Multiple major news reports quoting Ukrainian officials and US officials now say that Ukraine has at last fired some of its long sought after Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), ground missiles capable of traveling several hundred miles to destroy high-value targets without needing to place aircraft at risk.
ATACMS are ground based rockets able to fire at longer ranges than the existing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems known to have had a tremendous impact upon Ukraine’s war effort. Ukrainian President Zelensky and many of his Ukrainian supporters and high ranking officials, have long been requesting ATACMs for months for several key tactical and strategic reasons.
Now, Ukrainians have fired them on critical Russian targets, according to a write up on CBSnews.com citing US officials stating Ukraine has fired ATACMS against several Russian airbases in Russian-Occupied areas of Ukraine.
When asked about ATACMS recently, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not confirm or deny that they had been sent by the US to Ukraine following the most recent Ukraine Contact Group, yet he was clear to emphasize the US commitment to getting Ukraine what it “needs.”
“I don’t have any announcements on ATACMS ….. but what I will tell you is what we focused on is what we believe Ukraine needs, and we believe that because these are the things that President Zelenskyy addressed today. He spoke of a need for air defense, additional air defense, ground-based air defense capabilities, and also artillery platforms and artillery munitions,” Austin said, according to a Pentagon transcript.
What Can ATACMS do?
The benefits offered by ATACMS in the Ukraine war are as simple as they are important, as it comes to a clear question of stand-off range. Without air superiority, the only real way Ukraine can successfully target Russian troop concentrations, equipment and extremely dangerous weapons such as Russia’s mobile ground-rocket launchers, is with long range ground weapons. Traditional artillery typically travels as far as 30km and GMLRS can hit ranges of 80km, yet MGM-140 ATACMS can travel as far as 200 miles in some cases. This stand-off range is extremely significant for both offensive and defensive purposes, given that Russia has for months been firing ground-missiles at distances greater than 300 miles into civilian neighborhoods.
The arrival of ATACMS is likely quite significant for Ukrainian forces who might not have alternative means with which to strike Russian targets beyond the range of standard artillery or GMLRS. Ukraine does have extensive ISR from both NATO and its own drones, yet without air superiority, Ukrainian forces may have little change to strike high-value Russian targets they are able to see and locate with surveillance.
ATACMS technology
ATACMS have been upgraded over the years with new software, guidance systems, and command and control. Military-today.com explains ATACMs as “quasi-ballistic” maneuvering missile, which deviates from a standard ballistic “arc” in trajectory to perform rapid turns and course correction“This is a deliberate function of the ATACMS, as this seemingly erratic flight behavior makes it exceptionally difficult to track or intercept. This class of weapon is thus widely referred to as a ‘quasi-ballistic missile,’ though the U.S. Army has also referred to the ATACMS as a ‘maneuvering missile,’” the military-today essay states.s on the way to targets.
ATACMS can fire with several different kinds of warheads, one of which is anti-personnel submunitions, which disperse or scatter in mid-air to widen destruction and potentially hit pockets of enemy fighters on the move or blanket an area with explosives.“Depending on how far from the target the missile is set to release its submunitions, they can potentially saturate an area of up to 33 000 m2, with each submunition having a casualty radius of 15,” the report explains.Also, along with another submunition variant, the ATACMs fire a unitary warhead designed to increase precision and direct “point” of damage while reducing collateral damage.
ATACMs were fired in the Gulf War in the early 1990s and also fired extensively in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. More than 500 ATACMS have been fired in combat.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
