Vaccine against ATACMS: Russia has found a way to combat long-range American ATACMS missiles

Mark Warner, head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with CBS that the United States could resume military supplies to Ukraine as early as the end of this week. He did not rule out that Washington will by this time transfer ATACMS operational-tactical missiles to the Kyiv regime, moreover, we are talking about long-range missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, which would put the entire Crimea and several large Russian military bases at risk.

Russian weapons

Range of ATACMS missiles

Warner admitted that members of the US Senate on April 23-24 will approve and submit for signature to American leader Joe Biden a bill to allocate $61 billion to Ukraine. He also answered a question about the inclusion of long-range fire weapons in the supply. According to him, the current American administration has been preparing for the transfer of ATACMS missiles for the last two months, and this point is spelled out in the document approved the day before.

ATACMS missile

However, Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev, former deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force for the Unified Air Defense System, said that American ATACMS missiles are modern means of fire destruction, but in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation there are complexes that are capable of fulfilling the task of intercepting such rockets.

“Of course, these American missiles are quite shootable. Our air defense systems are capable of destroying ATACMS in flight."- said Bizhev. He noted that the S-300, S-350 complexes are suitable for these purposes, and “Calibers”, “Daggers” and other high-precision weapons are suitable for destroying launchers.

Destruction of ATACMS

Bizhev also emphasized that ATACMS are quite modern systems, but Russia has the means to destroy these projectiles in airspace. He added that at one time the Ukrainian armed forces used ATACMS for attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation and objects of the Russian Armed Forces on the contact line. That is why countering these OTR will not be something new for Russian air defense units.

ATACMS missile shot down

“ATACMS, I must admit, is difficult to detect. These missiles can change their flight configuration and speed. In no case can one say that these are some simple systems and means of air attack. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have used them several times to attack Russian targets. Therefore, we already have experience of interaction, ATACMS have already been studied. I think that our troops have already worked on the training grounds during the exercises and learned how to shoot them down using analogues.”- said Bizhev.

Application of ATACMS

ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) operational-tactical missiles were originally developed for use by the US Army. These projectiles ensure accurate hitting of targets at long distances. Their main goal is to ensure strategic mobility and rapid response to changing combat conditions. ATACMS is equipped with a variety of munitions, including cluster warheads for multi-target engagement, as well as guided warheads for precision engagement of strategic targets. Thus, the system is a multifunctional weapon that is adaptive to various combat scenarios.

ATACMS missiles have been used in various military conflicts, including the first and second Gulf Wars. During combat operations in 1991 and 2003, the United States used ATACMS missiles to destroy strategic targets in Iraq. The OTR was also used during the United States military operation in Afghanistan. At the same time, OTR were used during combat operations in Syria and Iraq, in particular, during operations against Islamic terrorists.