US President Joe Biden gave the green light to the use of ATACMS missiles by the Ukrainian armed forces against Russia, according to media reports. The outgoing president’s decision is related to the deployment of South Korean troops near the Russian border. The UK and France have already supplied Ukraine with long-range weapons, but these have not yet been used against targets on Russian soil. For its part, Germany still rejects the delivery of corresponding missiles to the Ukrainians.

The American ATACMS

The ATACMS missile is a short-range missile from the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The missile is launched from a crawler vehicle or artillery launcher, reaches its target in a circular orbit and has a maximum range of about 300 kilometers.

ATACMS typically uses cluster munitions in the warhead. Its price per unit is $1.7 million. According to the online magazine The Warzone, the Ukrainian armed forces used ATACMS missiles against Russian positions for the first time in the fall of 2023, but only on Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. Following President Joe Biden’s decision, the missiles can now be fired at targets in Russia itself, such as in the Kursk region.

Franco-British Storm Shadow/ SCALP

The British Storm Shadow and the identical French SCALP are cruise missiles. Unlike missiles, whose flight describes a largely predetermined circular path, cruise missiles fly parallel to the ground, at a low altitude of about 50 meters. Their advantage is that they are difficult to detect by radars. Unlike ATACMS the Storm Shadows and SCALP missiles are launched from fighters. The European consortium MBDA is the manufacturer of the missiles, which have been in use since 2002. The unit price is around 1.1 million euros.

The UK and France last year supplied Ukraine with the cruise missiles, which are launched by Ukrainian Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24 bombers. Like the American ATACMS missiles, the Franco-British cruise missiles have only hit a target in Russian-held territory in Ukraine. The range of the missiles, delivered to Ukraine, is about 250 kilometers.

The German-Swedish TAURUS

German-Swedish TAURUS cruise missiles are also launched from fighter aircraft. The missiles then fly very low above the ground and autonomously seek a predetermined target. At 500 kilometers, the TAURUS missiles have twice the range of the Ukrainian armed forces’ Storm Shadows and SCALPs. Possible targets for TAURUS missiles are fortified bunkers or command posts, from which enemy troops control military operations. The cost per unit is about one million euros.

The Taurus missile is capable of penetrating a series of massive reinforced concrete walls. To achieve this, the missile rises sharply just short of the target and impacts after a vertical dive. Several times in the past, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected deliveries of the missile in question to Ukraine, fearing Germany’s involvement in the war. Top officials of the Greens, members of the coalition government in Berlin but also the German conservative opposition, are in favor of delivering TAURUS to the Ukrainians and using it, following the example of US President Joe Biden.

Editor: Stefanos Georgakopoulos