Zelenskyy strengthens calls for ATACMS to stop ‘Russian terror'; What are they?

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday, January 28, strengthened calls for the supply of the longer-range missile system—the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to his military for countering Russia's powerful air assaults, labelling it as "terrorism" unleashed on Kyiv's territory. Zelenskyy appealed to the Western allies to shun the "taboos” surrounding the provision of the advanced weapons, reiterating that they will be used for launching counterattacks on invading Russian troops. 

“It would be possible to stop this Russian terror if we could source the appropriate missiles for our military forces,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, on January 28.

ATACMS' 300 km range stirs fears that it will be launched deep inside Russia

The United States has been reluctant to supply the ATACMS missiles as it has a range of 300 kilometers over speculations that it may be used to target areas deep inside Russian territory. The Boeing and the Saab Group manufactured Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) that Ukraine is also demanding is a highly effective weapon accurate over long distances boasting a range of 150 kilometers. The 250-pound class weaponry is similar to ground-based missile systems such as the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System but is equipped with an advanced Anti-Jam GPS System-aided Inertial Navigation System, and can be combined with a multipurpose, penetrating blast-and-fragmentation warhead. 

Credit: US Army

The Lockheed Martin-made M142 (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) HIMARS supplied by the Biden administration previously carries a six-pack of GMLRS rockets or one TACMS missile with a maximum range of 80 kilometers. After Russia's forces launched a barrage of missiles on the town of Kostyantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, killing three people on January 28, and wounding several others, Ukraine's President is now demanding ATACMS to counter the "Russian terror." 

“Ukraine needs long-range missiles to prevent (the Russian) occupiers from placing their missile launchers somewhere far from the front line and destroying Ukrainian cities with them,” Zelenskyy said in a regular address. 

“We will do everything we can to ensure that our partners open up this vital supply, including the delivery of ATACMS and other similar weapons,” he added. 

ATACMS is capable of traveling at such long distances that no other previously US-supplied weaponry can and can be launched off an M270 MLRS or the M142 HIMARS. HIMARS is capable of carrying only one ATACMS. During his visit to Washington, when he met with US President Joe Biden in person on December 21, Zelenskyy requested long-range missile systems for his military. Pentagon, although, has been holding back on it as it can further escalate the war should the system be used to target areas on Russia's soil. 

Credit: Lockheed Martin

“Our view is that we think the Ukrainians can change the dynamic on the battlefield and achieve the type of effects they want to push the Russians back without ATACMS,” Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy at the time said at a White House press conference.

Zelenskyy, however, argues that the lack of long-range missile systems hampers Ukraine's forces' ability to strike any further than the Russian targets far from the frontline, which, in turn, results in mounting civilian casualties. It still remains to see whether the Western allies of Ukraine will take a U-turn in supplying ATACMS, as they had with the M1 Abrams and Leopard-2 battlefield tanks. 

Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) are combat-proven surface-to-surface, inertially guided missiles that can engage targets at far distances from the area of influence. These long-range missiles were widely used by the US Army in the 1991 Gulf War of Iraq [Operation Desert Storm], the Second Persian Gulf War, and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) launched on March 19, 2003, to eliminate Saddam Hussein's regime, and raid the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). ATACMS was deployed across several operations by US joint force, Joint Special Operations Forces, and Army Land Component Command. During Operation Desert Storm, the US forces launched a total of 32 ATACMS and more than 450 during OIF.