US still refuses to transfer ATACMS to Ukraine
US still refuses to transfer ATACMS to Ukraine
The administration of US President Joe Biden refuses to transfer long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, despite requests from Kyiv and pressure from US lawmakers.
The administration of US President Joe Biden refuses to transfer long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, despite requests from Kyiv and pressure from US lawmakers.
I'm guessing the US arsenal of ATACMS missiles is rather limited and they have their own reasons for not making it smaller, which they can't go into detail about. Frustrating, but understandable.
The best theory I have seen is the Biden administration is trying to 'manage' the conflict. A belief they can dictate levels of aid to determine a geo politically satisfactory outcome.
Concerns around unmanaged escalation made sense but the UK has been pretty focussed on methodically moving up the escalation ladder to demonstrate Russia won't resort to nuclear strikes (Brimstone, Challenger 2 tanks, setting up the F16 coalition, Storm Shadow, etc..).
The USA expects China to be the next conflict zone, that is a naval/air situation where ATACM's can't be used. Suffering a shortage of ATACM's in the near term isn't really an issue especially if you've already put in place contracts to address the gap.
PrSM isn't ready yet.
I'm convinced this is the real reason they haven't been sent yet
IMO it's also about not looking like the boss of NATO -- a lot of tankies in Europe like to complain that they're just puppets.
FYI (source: ChatGPT 4)
ATACMS stands for Army Tactical Missile System. It is a surface-to-surface missile system designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin for the United States Army. This system is designed to be extremely mobile and can be fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, including the M270, M270A1, and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
The ATACMS is a short-range ballistic missile with a range of about 165 km for early versions, and more than 300 km for later models. It carries a large payload, up to 500 lb, which can include unitary warheads or submunitions depending on the specific model of the missile. The missile is designed for precision strikes against a variety of target types, including enemy artillery, air defenses, and concentrations of troops or armored vehicles.
As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, the ATACMS was set to be replaced by the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a next-generation surface-to-surface weapon system being developed for the U.S. Army.
Really weird how much ChatGPT knows. I wonder how much comes from Lockheed's public promotional material, and how much comes from sources that should not exist.
ChatGPT doesn't know anything. It just reproduced existing stuff and if the core points of a topic are hit is purely coincidental, just like there's no guarantee that the reproduced information is correct. It just needs to be found out there...
Case in point: No, ATACMS can't be fired by M270s... Only the very first production line was compatible and those don't exist anymore as they were modernized and upgraded with newer guidance systems. Which requires M270A1 and later. You could probably find that information even on wikipedia and yet ChatGPT missed it.