The United States is close to a deal to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles that can reach deep into Russia, but Kiev would need to wait several months while the United States resolves technical issues before any shipment, U.S. officials said.
The inclusion of joint air-to-surface missiles (JASSM) in a weapons package is expected to be announced in the coming months, three sources said, although a final decision has not been made. The sources declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Deploying JASSMs to Ukraine could significantly alter the strategic landscape of the conflict by putting more of Russia within range of powerful, precision-guided munitions, a key concern of the Biden administration, the officials said.
Military analysts have suggested that the introduction of JASSMs – which are stealthy and can strike further than most other missiles in Ukraine’s current inventory – could push Russian staging areas and supply depots too far from the Ukrainian border.
This would severely complicate Russia’s ability to sustain its offensive operations and potentially provide Ukraine with a strategic advantage.
Launching them from points close to Ukraine’s northern border with Russia could allow them to hit military installations as far away as the Russian cities of Voronezh and Bryansk. In the south, dropping them close to the front lines could allow strikes on airfields or naval installations in Crimea.
So far, JASSM has only been integrated into US-designed aircraft. Ukraine will eventually operate several dozen F-16s, each of which can carry two cruise missiles.
A U.S. official said there had been efforts to make the missile operable with non-Western fighters in Ukraine’s inventory, which has not been previously reported. While the official did not provide further details on which jets from Ukraine’s JASSM inventory could be used, they operate Soviet-era MiG-29, Su-24 and Su-27 jets.
Politico reported last month that the Biden administration was “open” to giving JASSMs to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s need for more and more powerful weapons is increasing as the country continues to face intense pressure from Russian forces along its eastern front.
Older models of JASSMs, made by Lockheed Martin Corp LMT.N , have a range of about 370 km. The missiles, about 4 meters long, are designed to be somewhat stealthy, making them difficult to detect on radar. They can also fly close to the ground and can be programmed to follow circuitous routes that avoid air defenses.
There is also a longer-range JASSM missile that can fly more than 500 miles (800 km). Reuters could not immediately establish which of the two types Washington was considering, but providing shorter-range missiles would put less strain on its arsenals.
Giving Ukraine JASSMs would also increase pressure on Washington to lift restrictions on how Ukraine uses the U.S.-given weapons because their effects would be limited if they were not authorized for use on targets inside Russia, a congressional staffer working on the issue said.
The United States has been reluctant to supply weapons that could hit targets inside Russia, for fear that doing so would escalate the conflict. Kiev’s allies have supplied weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern that such strikes could provoke retaliation that would draw NATO countries into the war or trigger a nuclear conflict.
Each JASSM has a large 1,000-pound warhead, but unlike the Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles already supplied to Kiev by Britain and France, it is not explicitly designed to penetrate hardened bunkers. The latest versions cost about $1 million each.
GPS signals and an inertial navigation system provide guidance. As it approaches a target, an infrared imaging seeker can help guide it to an impact point with an accuracy of about 3 meters.
While older models may be less resistant to electronic warfare than the current iteration of JASSM, the infrared seeker would help it find its target even in the midst of intense jamming, said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.
“They are quite stealthy, but they are not designed to be fully stealthy,” Herbert said. Several were fired in Syria a few years ago after chemical weapons incidents, and Russian air defense systems in the country failed to shoot down many, if any, of them.
“I would expect that carefully planned missile flight paths would allow JASSM to be effective almost anywhere in the war zone.”
This content was originally published in US is about to send long-range missiles to Ukraine on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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