![]() Despite that initial fear, transfer of the long-range missile systems is pending approval at the highest levels of the Pentagon. ![]() In all the aid packages sent to Kyiv, President Joe Biden has never approved the transfer of the ATACMS, with the fear that striking actual Russian territory with the weapon could escalate into a wider, more intense conflict. American officials have held back rockets that can be fired by HIMARS and can hit targets an estimated 185 miles away: the Army Tactical Missile System. But 48 miles isn’t the real limit of the HIMARS weapon system. Those rockets have devastated Russian command and control deep behind the front lines of the war. They double the reach of the M777 howitzers the U.S. It has become a favorite among Ukrainian troops, allowing them to hit Russian positions deep in occupied territory. Ukrainian forces have received other long-range weapons, including the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, that can hurl 200-pound rockets nearly 48 miles. In May 2023, Biden officials said the deal for the missiles, also known as ATACMS for short, was “still in play.” Now, the Wall Street Journal reports the administration is considering sending ATACMS to Ukraine, in spite of its former reluctance. While it never ruled the long-range missile out completely, 2022 was a very different time for Russia, its international military prestige and its fortunes in its ongoing war in Ukraine. Today, it seems to be shrugging off that concern. In 2022, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Biden Administration was concerned that sending the Army Tactical Missile System to Ukraine could spark World War III.
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