Biden administration mulls supplying Ukraine with ATACMS missiles

The US is still hesitant to send Ukraine any of its limited stock of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems — known as ATACMS, or "attack ’ems” — even as the Biden administration acknowledges that Kyiv’s forces are running dangerously low on other munitions in its counteroffensive against Russia, reported from The New York Times.

Ukraine has long coveted the ATACMS, which have a range of about 190 miles, or about 40 miles more than the missiles France and Britain are providing.

Two American officials and one European official described a quiet debate within the Biden administration over whether to send even a few of the surface-to-surface guided missiles, which are being reserved for other security threats. The officials spoke on the condition on anonymity to discuss an internal administration debate.

The ATACMS are among the last major weapons systems that Kyiv wants and the United States is reluctant to give.

American defense officials have warned that their arsenal of ATACMS is relatively small, and the missiles have been committed for other Pentagon war plans, in places including the Korean Peninsula. Only about 4,000 ATACMS have been manufactured since the missile was developed in the 1980s, a Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said.

Giving them to Ukraine would risk readiness in the other hot spots.

Shortly after Ukraine launched its counteroffensive last month, House Republicans formally called on the Biden administration to "immediately” send ATACMS to Ukraine, noting that other allies have already donated their own long-range missiles.

France’s announcement on July 11 could either fuel the pressure campaign or, conversely, ease it now that Ukraine is receiving long-range missiles from other countries.





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