US President Joe Biden's administration is close to providing Ukraine with the Atacams system, to help Kiev face the war that Russia began in late February 2022.
According to US press reports, the US president told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky a few days ago that Washington will provide a limited number of long-range "surface-to-surface" Atacams missiles, but without official confirmation from the White House, what is this system? What are its advantages?
The Atacams is a long-range guided ballistic missile system with a high precision range, with a range of about 300 kilometers, and can be launched from mobile platforms such as the Hemars rocket launchers.
These missiles are designed to counter strategic targets such as airfields, surface-to-air missile sites, artillery forces, supply areas, command groups, or communication points.
Features of its missiles
The missile is between 50 and 65 kilometers in height, and this altitude allows the missiles to avoid most surface-to-air defense systems, while maintaining the accuracy necessary for strikes.
The missile has a speed of about 3700,4 kilometers per hour, a length of 160 meters, and an estimated warhead weight of between 560 and <> kilograms, and the missiles are guided by navigation and with the help of the GPS system.
The missile runs on solid fuel, making it suitable in a variety of environments, and relies on a warhead that produces an explosion with an explosive power equivalent to about 228 kilograms of TNT.
The U.S. ground forces have had the missile since 1990, with 450 rockets fired during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and 560 in several wars in 2015.
There is a limited supply of Atacams in the United States, as Lockheed Martin, the developer, has only made nearly 4,<> since the start of production.