The US has covertly been providing Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles to aid them in striking targets deep within Russian territory....CONTINUE READING
They have already been used multiple times to wipe out an air base in Crimea and Russian forces in occupied Ukraine. These strikes came last week, and yesterday it was announced that US has secretly shipped the missiles to Ukraine.
The Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) have a range of 190 miles which can be reached in five minutes – three times the speed of the Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK.
The 230kg warheads are costly, coming in at £800,000 each, but are effective in carrying out quick, precision strikes on targets deep behind enemy lines.
The US held off supplying Ukraine with ATACMS, but they give Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces the ability to double their striking distance compared with the previous version of the weapon they were using.
Vedant Patel, spokesperson for the US State Department, said yesterday: “I can confirm that the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS at the president’s direct direction.”
“We did not announce this at the onset in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request. [The] missiles arrived in Ukraine this month.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US will provide Ukraine with more long-range missiles. He added: “They will make a difference. But as I’ve said before at this podium … There is no silver bullet.”
After Joe Biden passed the $61 billion (£48 billion) aid bill for Ukraine yesterday, Sullivan revealed that more ATACMS would be included.
The 2,300mph ATACMS were used last week in a caught-on-camera strike on a Crimean air base, destroying valuable ammunition in storage..<<CONTINUE READING>>
