ATACMS: The Himars Missile Upgrade Ukraine Desperately Wants | WSJ Equipped

(

missile

roar) - Ukrainian forces have repeatedly requested these from the United States. They are the Army Tactical Missile System, ATACMS for short. These

missile

s may come

equipped

with a 500-pound explosive fragmentation warhead and have a maximum range of approximately 190 miles, which could allow Ukrainian forces to reach further into Russian-controlled territories within Ukraine, including Crimea. In September, U.S. officials said they would send a small number of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in the coming weeks after discussing the risk of escalating tensions with Russia and worrying about its small domestic arsenal. - We have been supplying Ukraine with items from our junk drawer, as opposed to high-end missile capabilities. (missile roar) - Here's how these missiles could speed up Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia, and why the United States was initially hesitant to send them. - ATACMS is the Army Field Artillery's main surface-to-surface attack system.

It allows them to be mobile, to spread out, to hide in terrain and disorder, and to be able to impose certain types of uncertainty on the enemy about where they will come from. - ATACMS is designed to be launched from a ground vehicle, like the American HIMARS, which is already in Ukraine. Once the missile is fired (missile roar), the ground vehicle can fire and slide to avoid retaliatory attacks. This could be a big advantage for Ukrainian forces, who have been using a similar missile, the UK's Storm Shadow, which is fired from a jet aircraft. - It simply offers one more level of flexibility for the counteroffensive.

The other systems that require air launch limit where and when the Ukrainians can use them. They need that aerial platform. Basically, this allows ground forces to carry these launchers anywhere they need them. (radio talk) - One of the interesting features of the HIMARS launcher is that it does not reveal exactly what missile it carries. That's an advantage, because assuming an enemy is watching you, they won't necessarily know what's inside and won't know if it's a higher value ATACMS, as opposed to lower range ones. - This gives the Ukrainians the added advantage of firing missiles from multiple types of domains, including air and ground.

But the mobility of the HIMARS means the Ukrainians could get closer to Russian territory, further increasing the range of the missiles. ATACMS missiles can range up to 190 miles, considerably farther than the Storm Shadow's maximum range of 155 miles. - There are all kinds of operational advantages in that broader range. That range allows, for example, Ukrainian forces to fire from safer territory, without having to walk to Russian lines to attack something deeper. - This additional reach could force Moscow to move storage facilities and command centers more than 200 miles from the front, and that could complicate efforts to supply troops with food and ammunition, helping the Ukrainians in their counteroffensive.

Also... - This weapon could be useful for a Ukrainian to target inside some of these Russian hellish territories, specifically Crimea. - ATACMS can also move significantly faster than other missiles, reaching a top speed of Mach 3, or about 2,300 miles per hour. By contrast, cruise missiles like the Storm Shadow or the Russian KH-101, for example, have top speeds of only 600 to 700 miles per hour. - The speed of the ATACMS is simply a function of the fact that it is a ballistic missile with a large, single-stage, rocket motor at the rear. This speed is useful for time-critical targets, things that can move and must be attacked very quickly. - The ATACMS guidance system combines inertial navigation with GPS.

This creates very precise orientation, avoiding electronic interference and jams and minimizing collateral damage in the event of impact. ATACMS is also designed with suitable features to achieve multiple types of objectives. These missiles are highly maneuverable in the air, allowing them to hit targets from various angles. - A simple ballistic missile will travel on a ballistic trajectory. It will just follow the rainbow of gravity, something that is very predictable and curved. The benefit of maneuverability is that you can interrupt that rainbow. You can go down another way. You can maneuver to be more on target. Maybe you can chase down a moving target and correct your mistakes.

And yes, you can go down vertically, if you want. That vertical impact can be useful for going over the target and making it much harder to see it coming, or hitting the vulnerable point of an armored vehicle. - ATACMS missiles can contain one of two types of warheads, unitary or submunitions. - A unitary warhead is exactly what it sounds like. It is a great explosive. It is one piece. Submunitions, or mini-bombs, are also what they seem: a bunch of little things that spread around. Both have advantages, depending on what you're targeting. - Inside an ATACMS submunition warhead are hundreds of steel-cased balls filled with incendiary shot. - Which could be crudely compared to the firing of a shotgun (shot noise) in which a large shower of explosive impact is produced on the target.

And then there is a unitary warhead, which could be crudely compared to a single pistol bullet. (Boom Shot) - Unitary warheads are best for targeting specific individual targets, while submunition warheads are very effective against moving personnel and equipment. - It is true that unitary units and submunitions are designed for different things, but both can attack many different targets. - What we don't know is what variant they would provide or what combination of variants they would provide to the Ukrainians. - Despite Ukraine's requests, the United States was reluctant to send ATACMS until now. - There was concern about an escalation of the conflict with the Russians.

There is concern that the Ukrainians could use these ATACMS, which have this long range, and target inside Russian territory. But we are also at a point in the counteroffensive that has gone much slower than anyone expected. And so the United States may be digging deeper into its pockets and greenlighting other weapons systems that it didn't want to provide before, given time constraints. - The Biden administration faced increased pressure from Ukraine and Congress to send ATACMS missiles. Last June, Congress signed a bipartisan resolution in favor of sending ATACMS to Ukraine, and the administration has changed course on weapons before, such as with the Abrams tank.

But officials have also expressed concern about the United States' domestic ATACMS arsenal. - The United States is really trying to balance its own national security needs with those of Ukraine and Europe in general. - And the United States just doesn't have many of these around. They have been out of production to some extent for some time. - This recent change comes shortly after a US military official said that the ATACMS replacement missile, the PrSM, will go out of production and enter US arsenals in the near future. The PrSM, or precision strike missile, can reach more than 300 miles, a significantly greater range than the ATACMS. - That may also mitigate some of the impact on US inventory to provide ATACMS.

That opens the door to the possibility of offering them now.