Ukraine has both American ATACMS and European Storm Shadow air-based missiles in service. The former are launched from ground installations, while the latter are launched from aircraft.
The IISS Military Balance blog analyzes which long-range missiles are best for Ukraine - the American ATACMS ballistic missiles or the European Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG air-based missiles.
It is noted that in April 2024, Ukraine received from the US a "significant number" ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) short-range ballistic missiles.
In October 2023, Washington provided Kiev with a shorter-range variant of the ATACMS, known as the M39 Block I. It has a range of 165 km, which is insufficient to hit targets in occupied Crimea.< /p>
It also uses a cluster warhead and as such is not suitable for use against protected targets.
The transfer of an unspecified version of a longer-range missile represents a change in US policy. Longer-range ATACMS variants include missiles with single or cluster warheads and all have a range of up to 300 km. It is not clear exactly which variant or variants of ATACMS was transferred.
However, the limited strike radius seen in images of the aftermath of Ukraine's strike on ferries in the Kerch Strait on May 30 suggests that the delivery may have included a single warhead variant.
The US may have transferred some of the remaining units from the older ATACMS while restocking with the newly developed M57 variant, reducing stockpile concerns.
The delivery of the longer-range ATACMS follows Ukraine's transfer of export versions of the Franco-British SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of 250 km. Recent attacks in the southern part of Russian-occupied Crimea show that Ukraine has already used the new American missile.
"On May 15, Ukraine struck the Belbek air base. near Sevastopol and destroyed two MiG-31 fighters and up to two MiG-29 fighter jets, as well as a fuel depot. A week later, Ukrainian forces said they had sunk the Project 22800-class missile corvette "Karakurt" at the naval base in Sevastopol. According to UK military intelligence, it is "highly likely" in the latest strike, ATACMS were used in conjunction with unilateral strike munitions," the post said.
The authors of the publication note that the delivery of long-range ATACMS to Ukraine, regardless of possible US restrictions, will increase its ability to engage Russian targets at a greater distance.
They will also supplement air-launched cruise missile capabilities, which are limited by the number of Su-24M aircraft modified for SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles. According to estimates by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Ukraine has only five such Su-24M aircraft.
"The low-level range of the Su-24M and the range of the SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles combined are more than twice that of the longer-range ATTAX.
Ukraine is unlikely to want to unnecessarily expose its very limited number of launch platforms (Su-24M aircraft - ed.) to Russian air defense assets, unless a specific target is worth the risk. By comparison, the ATACMS SRBM missiles can be launched from M142 HIMARS or M270 MLRS launchers, of which Ukraine has received a total of about 60 from various Western donors," the article said.
Within a new package of aid from Italy, Ukraine may receive not only the SAMP/T air defense system, but also a batch of long-range Storm Shadow missiles that can potentially hit Russian territory, writes Il Fatto Quotidiano.
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