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Biden ‘open’ to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine
(www.politico.com)
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That thing is stealthy, fairly new, can penetrate air defenses, but is only available in limited numbers; it'd be used against high-value targets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-158_JASSM
Depending upon whether it's the -ER variant (extended range) or not:
EDIT: For perspective:
370 km:
https://lemmy.today/pictrs/image/eacb3c80-bb9f-4a2f-a178-400885ae0105.png
926 km:
https://lemmy.today/pictrs/image/53c1a3b3-c4a7-408c-8d35-ecf549cb914d.png
The problem with these long range Standoff munitions is that they're sorely needed in the indo-pacific region if there's ever a war with China. (Likely to be within the next few years) It's going to give some pause to US planners as range is at a premium there. I don't see JASSM going to Ukraine myself, as these missiles are reserved for a fight with China. However, it may be a useful move to get Europe to chip in for long range munitions.
Getting to do some real world test in russia before actually needing them in china is probably not a bad idea.
Even if Ukraine only received and used a pair of these missiles, Russia would have to react to the possibility that Ukraine received many many more. This could be a positive development for UA ground forces just like we're seeing TU-92 and TU-22 being operated at more distant airbases and Sevestapol being emptied in favor of Novorossiysk.
I haven't read any expert discussion, but I am wondering if that will be such a problem. That was an issue for ATACMS, but:
PrSM, which I understand to be the ATACMS replacement, was subsequently accepted by the Army.
https://www.twz.com/one-argument-against-giving-atacms-to-ukraine-is-about-to-erode
It sounds like we've also ramped up ATACMS production since then.
https://breakingdefense.com/2024/04/sullivan-says-ukraine-supplemental-should-cover-all-of-2024-long-range-atacms-now-in-ukraine/
In the case of JASSM, it's not ramping up production of a weapon with a large stockpile relative to production rate and limited production that's on the edge of being phased out, but a new weapon (well, in the case of the -ER variant); I'd guess that it's probably less painful to increase the rate of production if we need more for China.
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/2024/ramping-up--lockheed-martin-steadily-increasing-production-o.html
https://www.twz.com/air/jassm-stealth-cruise-missiles-now-on-the-table-for-ukraine-report
I mean, the "Arsenal of Democracy" rhetoric reminiscent of World War II is, I think, a bit overheated -- as I've pointed out before, if the US allocated a comparable level of GDP to military production to what it did in World War II, it could support hundreds of concurrent conflicts at the scale it is of the Russo-Ukrainian War. 2024 isn't 1944. But capacity has indeed been coming online; it's not static.
Maybe capacity is to the point where military planners are willing to give up stock of some missiles. But if I've taken anything away from the Russo-Ukranian war, it's that quantity of weapons systems is incredibly important. There's a heck of a lot of targets to hit in China.
However if the US is in a position to send JASSM to Ukraine, I will be excited. Personally, I'm very excited to see what weapons systems that Ukraine can now use since it has F-16. Especially with JDAM-ER which the Russians have shown the effectiveness of.
The resurgence of the ATACMs is aimed at Ukraine and Europe as a whole. Especially Poland and its massive HIMARS fleet on order. It would definitely be useful in the Pacific, but from what I see in the procurement requests, it's mostly for foreign order. It's a major move though, seeing as new production of the ATACMs was terminated in 2007.
@tal @BrianPierce
Biden ‘open’ to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/15/biden-missiles-ukraine-russia-00174147
I'm not sure I understand. Did you maybe paste the wrong URL? That's a link to the same article that OP linked to.
I think it's a quirk of mastodon's interpretation of activitypub protocols and lemmy's interpretation of activitypub protocols
Oohhhh...good point. He's on a Mastodon instance. So I guess that that's basically the functional equivalent of a Twitter retweet on Mastodon.
Thanks.