Russia threatened to respond immediately if the US provided long-range missiles to Ukraine
(Dan Tri) – Russia announced that it will respond immediately if the US grants the long-range ATACMS missile system to Ukraine.
The long-range ATACMS missile was launched from the US M270 multiple rocket launcher (Photo: Wikipedia).
`According to the information we have, Washington is planning to supply its `puppet` with long-range ATACMS missile systems, as well as multi-purpose drones MQ-1C Gray Eagle and MQ-9
`We warn that adequate retaliation will not be long in coming. The weakening Western war machine will not be able to prevent the Russian military’s success in special combat zones,` Mr. Gavrilov said.
Gavrilov also noted, `frantic efforts` by some Western OSCE member states to isolate Russia `are futile and counterproductive.`
The Russian official’s warning came after ABC News cited sources from US officials saying that US President Joe Biden’s administration may send ATACMS missiles used on the HIMARS multiple launch fire system to support
ATACMS is a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 300km, four times greater than the GMLRS rocket that the US is providing to Ukraine for use on the HIMARS system.
With a weight of more than 1.6 tons, a length of 4m and a diameter of 610mm, ATACMS can fly at a speed of up to 1km/s at a ceiling of about 50km.
ATACMS missiles have been developed by defense industry corporation Lockheed Martin since 1986. Up to now, about 3,700 ATACMS missiles have been produced and put into service by the US military and a number of allied countries.
The US has and has committed to providing dozens of HIMARS systems to Ukraine.
GMLRS only has an attack range of 80km, but the cost is about 160,000 USD, while each ATACMS missile is worth 1 million USD.
Newsweek said that this is also one of the reasons why the US has not wanted to send ATACMS to Ukraine recently.
In July 2022, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the country would not provide ATACMS to Ukraine because of concerns that they would be used to attack Russian territory, a development that could escalate.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier this week that Washington has not changed its position on issuing batches of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine and will not transfer them to Kiev.
The administration of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly urged the US and its allies to send long-range missiles to support Kiev in the conflict.