CNN reported Tuesday that the US has secretly provided Ukraine with Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), munitions that typically have a range of about 190 miles and can be fired from the HIMARS rocket systems.
US officials told The New York Times that the ATACMS the US has provided are armed with cluster bombs, a widely banned munition that’s notorious for killing civilians due to its indiscriminate nature. Cluster bombs spread small submunitions over large areas and can leave duds behind that civilians can come across years after the conflict.
While most ATACMS have a range of 190 miles, the Times report said that the version the US secretly provided Ukraine has a shorter range than the Storm Shadow missiles that the British have given Kyiv, which can hit targets up to 155 miles away.
The US officials said Ukraine has already used the ATACMS in strikes on two airfields in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine on Tuesday. Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament, also said the ATACMS were already in use.
“ATACMS is already with us. The airfield in Berdyansk with enemy equipment was hit by them. Thanks to our partners!” Goncharenko wrote on X. Berdyansk is a southern city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia oblast. Ukrainian officials also said they struck an airfield in Luhansk and claimed they destroyed nine helicopters in the two attacks, which has not been confirmed by the Russian side.
It’s not clear when the US delivered ATACMS to Ukraine. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington in September, media reports said President Biden decided to arm Ukraine with a cluster bomb version of ATACMS, but the Pentagon did not list the missiles in any recent weapons packages.
Ukraine had been requesting ATACMS from the US throughout the conflict. The administration was initially hesitant over concerns of escalation. The Times report said US officials long believed “the use of ATACMS could cross one of the ‘red lines’ that would lead Russia to consider using a tactical nuclear weapon.” But escalation concerns have waned despite Russia’s many warnings against providing the missiles.
The Bribe-n admin is doing that, fixed.
We should demostrate their effectiveness by launching some at the CEO’s of the companies that keep on bulding them despite the ban.
How about launching the CEO’s, give ’em a first hand look, so to speak.
“secretly provided” ? Why the secrecy ? The Eye of Mordor…erm…the Eye of Mainstream Media is fixed firmly upon Gaza right now.
The USA could deliver B-2 bombers to Kiev in broad daylight tomorrow, and only the wide-seeing sorts running antiwar.com would notice. Anyone else would shrug off “yesterday’s news” about a waning ‘popular war’.
Joe Strangelove Biden is really on a roll, isn’t he???
Great news.
Im not surprised. The transferred was authorized but the handover kept low key.
Another red line filthy rich Putin wont dare to uphold for his ego war.
And you know what’s worse than the ATACMS Cluster Bomb version? A Russia that invades a neighboring country and kills its people to take their land version.
Nope… From Andrei Martyanov:
“1. No ATACMS have been used, the attack was by HIMARS;”
This requires clarification. ATACMS are fired by the M270 MLRS and by the M142 HIMARS
I interpret Andrei’s report as meaning they found HIMARS missile fragments, not cluster munition fragments. If a cluster munition was hit by Russian AD, one would expect a certain number of the munitions would have landed and detonated. As far as we know, only cluster munitions were provided for the ATACMS. Either way, the attack was a failure.
Maybe I wasn’t clear. The HIMARS system can launch ATACMS and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets. Perhaps Martyanov meant that GMLRS fragments were identified.
Probably should take it up with Andrei on his blog.
Politico are whores for Biden (as are most US MSM), part of their reward for their obeisance, an inside line to every fart that issues from WH butts.
Why are they celebrating the destruction of dumb Russian junk made with chips from home appliances? (Sarcasm)
It’s not clear when the US delivered ATACMS to Ukraine. ….. but the Pentagon did not list the missiles in any recent weapons packages.
right. because the pentagon is always totally forthcoming and even transparent in it’s dealings.
Why the f**k would ANYONE tell the Russians we were sending longer range missiles?!? (Tankie logic blows my mind!)
Putin and his idiot general SHOULD have known they were coming and dispersed their assets but they continue to be unable to find their a**es with both their hands!
They’ve been telegraphing ATACMS for month. Also, did you forget when they told the Russians for months before that there was going to be a spring offensive.
Title of the article:
“ US Secretly Provided Ukraine With Cluster Bomb ATACMS”
AND, read the comment to which I responded. Are you a halfwit or is your ignorance deliberate?
I wasn’t replying to the previous comment or the title of the article, but rather to your braindead comment. You know the one where I responded to your totally good faith question about why the west would tell Russia what it was doing. Got it sporto?
Perhaps you have a comprehension problem, son.
The only halfwits around here are yourself and the tequila guy who still think the “spring offensive” is making progress. You two are quite the pair.
Well, if your mind is made up I won’t confuse you with facts.
Facts from a neocon? I don’t think so.
And up the escalator ladder we go, one more step. I wonder what we’ll find when we get to the top?
“The future’s so bright, you’re gonna need shades.”
Get in bed with a prostitute, wake up with a disease.
(Apologies to all prostitutes.)
And kudos to the woked wankers who wrote the crap that polices our website.
US Secretly Provided Ukraine With Cluster Bomb ATACMS US officials told NYT that Ukraine has already used the long-range missiles
Another Red line crossed. Provocation after provocation giving the child Zelensky what ever he wants.