Newsweek | Why U.S. ATACMS Would Be a Game Changer for Ukraine

The U.S. appears to be inching closer to providing Ukraine with the long-range strike weapons that experts say could be a game changer as it seeks to step up its counteroffensive and retake more occupied territory from Russia.

The Pentagon has so far resisted pressure to supply Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, which have a range just shy of 200 miles. Experts told Newsweek that Ukraine could use ATACMS to strike far behind the front lines in the south and east of the country, offering an advantage over the U.K.’s Storm Shadow and French SCALP missiles that have already been pledged.

“The more, the better for Ukraine,” Frederik Mertens, a strategic analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, told Newsweek. “If sufficient missiles are at hand, you would execute planned attacks with multiple launchers at once to confuse the Russian air defenses,” he added.

Whereas Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles are long-range, air-to-air cruise missiles, ATACMS are surface-to-surface systems with some ability to maneuver during flight.

The ATACMS are faster, able to reach targets around 250 kilometers (155 miles) away in around five minutes, rather than the Storm Shadow and SCALP’s travel time of 15 minutes, Hoffmann said.

“That could be really useful for Ukraine, if it wants to engage time-sensitive targets” that may be on the move, he argued to Newsweek. “The greatest advantage is probably the speed with which an ATACMS can react when a target is detected,” Mertens argued.

Although comparable and frequently considered in the same breath, ATACMS provide different capabilities from the Storm Shadow and SCALP weapons. ATACMS warheads aren’t designed to specifically destroy harder targets, and would more likely be used to engage softer targets such as warehouses or storage depots, rather than bunkers or fortified targets.

Russia may also find it difficult to intercept ATACMS, and Moscow has sometimes struggled to shoot down Storm Shadows, added Mertens.

Ukraine’s military could fire ATACMS from positions of “relative security,” Mertens said, unlike launching Storm Shadows or SCALPs from more vulnerable fighter aircraft like the Su-24.

“ATACMS will really make a difference,” Mertens said. “Ukraine could use them to kill Russian high value targets and drive them even further back,” he continued, particularly alongside an effective ground offensive.

Read the full article by Ellie Cook in Newsweek.