Ukraine needs free use of its powerful ATACMS to inflict maximum damage on Russia

The fighting in Ukraine is becoming more desperate. The Russian military is attacking along the contact line, trying to attrite the Ukrainian defenders and achieve tactical victories. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has wrestled the operational initiative and invaded Russia in the Kursk Oblast.

Although the Ukrainian offensive into Russia is forcing Moscow to peel off troops from Ukraine to contain the threat, the Ukrainian military is forced to fight with one hand tied behind the back because of a restriction imposed by the United States on one of Kyiv’s most deadly weapons.

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, is a short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile. Fired from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) – which can also fire other deadly missiles but at shorter distances – the ATACMS can reach targets up to 200 miles, or 300 kilometers, away.

Developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and in service with the U.S. military for more than three decades, the ATACMS is very effective in the right hands. Depending on the munition used – there is the option of a unitary or a cluster munitions warhead – the ATACMS can destroy almost anything.

The munition has been on the Ukrainian military’s wishlist almost since the war began on February 24, 2022. However, it took a very long time for the United States to give the green light and transfer the formidable weapon.

The Ukrainian military used its ATACMS arsenal for the first time in the middle of April. The target was a Russian air base in the occupied Crimean Peninsula. The Russian air defenses were caught off guard and since then have failed to effectively counter the ATACMS.

In a short few months, the Ukrainian military has used the ATACMS to target and destroy or damage several Russian air bases, logistical nodes, S-300 and S-400 air defense batteries, warships, a submarine, and command and control centers. Until today, the Russian military hasn’t found a credible answer to the ATACMS, which seems to be able to penetrate Russia’s most advanced air defense systems at will.

Although exact numbers are classified, it is very likely that Ukraine has an ATACMS arsenal in the low hundreds. However, despite the proven capabilities of the ATACMS to inflict heavy costs on Russian military targets, the White House has imposed serious restrictions on the use of the weapon system.

Related: Everything you need to know about Ukraine’s invasion of Russia

ATACMS restricted

Currently, the U.S. has restricted the use of the ATACMS to only targets within occupied Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula. As a result, the Ukrainian military can’t use the powerful weapon system to target and take out targets within Russia.

This policy decision would make more sense if the U.S. hadn’t allowed the Ukrainian military to use other U.S.-supplied weapons and munitions, including GMLRS missiles fired by the M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS, the same platforms used to fire the ATACMS, to strike targets within Russia.

Due to the imposed restrictions, the Ukrainian military sits and watches hundreds of military targets, including air bases, logistical nodes, command and control hubs, communication centers, troop concentrations, transportation infrastructure, and ammunition depots, without the ability to destroy them.

The U.S. has reasoned that the Russian military has relocated military aircraft used to attack Ukraine outside the range of the ATACMS. Although that is largely accurate, a plethora of other military targets inside Russia, vital to the ability of the Russian military to wage war in Ukraine, are within ATACMS’ range.

After more than 900 days of brutal fighting and almost a million casualties on both sides, the fear of escalation shouldn’t be as significant as it still is in the policy rooms of those who support Ukraine and freedom.

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