Joe Biden has given Ukraine authorization to use the US-made ATACMS ballistic missile system against Russian and North Korean forces inside Russian territory.
White House sources have informed the media that the weapons could be used in the Russian region of Kursk, where kyiv has made an incursion, but that the current US president could also authorize them in other places before Donald Trump’s inauguration. .
The first strikes with the ATACMS missile system could arrive within days. What is it? Why is it important for Ukraine?
What are your capabilities?
The Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, was developed during the Cold War to hit Soviet targets and kyiv is already using them, although so far it has only fired them at targets located in Soviet-occupied Ukrainian territories. Russia.
Manufactured by the Lockheed Martin company, these ballistic missiles can hit targets 300 kilometers away. As they fly at an atmospheric altitude much higher than that of most missiles, they are capable of evading anti-aircraft defenses by impacting the ground at high speed.
Although they do not have the range of a cruise or intercontinental ballistic missile, the missiles of the ATACMS system are considered long range.
Why has the Biden Administration changed its position?
kyiv was lobbying for Biden to give the green light to the use of ATACMS on Russian territory, and the president is now under greater pressure. With Trump saying he will seek a quick end to the war in Ukraine, both the Ukrainian government and its supporters around the world fear the possibility of serious advances by Moscow on the battlefield.
Biden did not want to allow attacks inside Russia with the ATACMS because he feared that this would mean going up a notch in the intensity of the war, as Russian President Vladimir Putin had threatened. “We are trying to avoid World War III,” Biden said.
The change of mind is justified as a response to the presence of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside the Russians. Pyongyang sent about 10,000 troops to Russia in October to fight in the Ukraine war. It is feared that they could send tens of thousands more.
How will the missiles affect the battle?
Ukraine will now be able to use the missiles inside Kursk, the Russian region in which kyiv occupies more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory. ATACMS could relieve the Ukrainian front by targeting Russian weapons and ammunition depots, supply lines and military bases.
With Trump inaugurated in January, the move may be a way to bolster Ukraine militarily before it is forced into peace talks. It may also have a psychological impact, improving morale in Ukraine during a difficult period.
How is the war going at the moment?
Moscow is expected to soon begin a major offensive to recapture Kursk with the support of North Korean soldiers. ATACMS is not a magic solution and Russian forces have been gaining ground in the east of the country.
Ukraine’s big problem is the urgent need for soldiers. The government in kyiv is having a hard time mobilizing Ukrainians to join the war.
What about the Storm Shadow and the other armaments?
Biden has gradually allowed kyiv to use more advanced and longer-range weapons. At the beginning of the war, it approved the use of HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 80 kilometers.
In the last two months there has been talk of a possible similar authorization granted to Ukraine to launch Franco-British Storm Shadow missiles, with capabilities comparable to those of the ATACMS, against Russian forces on Russian territory. These long-range missiles rely on a US guidance system. That is to say, Washington has to agree to the employment they are given.
Biden’s decision on ATACMS may now encourage European allies who want to give kyiv more freedom of action in the deployment of the Storm Shadow or Scalp, as it is known in France. Storm Shadows have the power to penetrate bunkers and damage airfields, and can be targeted with precision.
Translation by Francisco de Zárate.
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