US About to Build a Whole Lot More ATACMS

The United States will soon have "a lot" of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to refill its stockpiles, allowing Washington, D.C., to provide Ukraine with key long-range capabilities without compromising U.S. arsenals, according to the U.S. Army's acquisition boss.

A "significant number" of ATACMS missiles were ordered several years ago and are "now hitting at just the right time to be able to support how we're supporting Ukraine without taking a hit to readiness," Doug Bush, the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, said in remarks reported by Politico on Thursday. "There are a lot of ATACMS coming off that [production] line."

The Pentagon had said it was concerned about depleting U.S. stocks of the ground-launched missiles that Kyiv has said it desperately needs to fend off Russian attacks as Moscow gains territory in eastern Ukraine and slowly advances in the east. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon via email for additional information.

Ukraine debuted its ATACMS in October 2023 using a cluster variant of the missiles to strike two Russian military bases in Ukraine and damage a slew of helicopters.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said last month that President Joe Biden had secretly authorized a "significant number of ATACMS missiles" to Ukraine in February.

Reuters reported on Saturday that a U.S. official said Washington had quietly sent longer-range versions of ATACMS to Ukraine, which were used to strike Russian-controlled Crimea in mid-April. It was reported in mid-February that the U.S. favored sending longer-range ATACMS to Kyiv to enable strikes on the Russian-held Crimean peninsula. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine back in 2014.

They were part of a $300 million aid package announced in mid-March and they have already arrived in Ukraine for use within the country's borders, Sullivan said. "We've already sent some, we will send more now that we have additional authority and money," he added.

The U.S. did not publicly announce the delivery of ATACMS because of a Ukrainian request for "operational security," U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press briefing last month.

"Until recently, as we've said on many occasions, we were unable to provide these ATACMS because of readiness concerns," Sullivan told the media on April 24.

The Biden administration had been working "behind the scenes" to alleviate these concerns, Sullivan told reporters, adding: "We now have a significant number of ATACMS coming off the production line and entering U.S. stocks."

ATACMS give Kyiv's troops the firepower to strike high-value Russian assets far behind the frontlines. They beef up Ukraine's long-range capabilities, alongside other long-range weapons like the British Storm Shadow and French SCALP air-launched cruise missiles.

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