Since last summer, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been asking the United States for ATACMS ballistic missiles for the M142 HIMARS highly mobile artillery system. However, Washington is limited to only GMLRS and GLSDB rounds. Deliveries of the latter are expected at the end of this year. This week the situation has taken a new turn.

What is known

The US House Committee on Armed Services is trying to force the administration to provide Ukraine with ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles with a maximum launch range of 300 km.

In a note to the Defense Policy Bill for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY), the committee calls for a minimum of $80 million to be used to purchase ATACMS missiles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Note that FY2024 in the US starts on October 1, 2023 calendar year.

US President Joe Biden has been under pressure from lawmakers for a long time. The refusals were explained by the desire of the United States to prevent an escalation with the Russian Federation and the depletion of American reserves.

Secretary of the US Army Christine Wormuth commented on the new bill. She stated that she was not authorized to talk about the supply of weapons systems to Ukraine, but did not think that the US attitude towards ATACMS had changed. A member of the committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the new amendment would require the transfer of new missiles to Ukraine, and not from existing stocks.

Source: Defense News