U.S. Soldiers launch the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System in Delamere, Northern Territory, Australia in support of Talisman Sabre 2023 on July 27, 2023. (US Army/Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Dickson)
WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may be the guest of honor at the Pentagon and White House today, but the leader’s presence in the corridors of power apparently hasn’t swayed the Biden administration to include some sought-after long-range weapons to Kyiv in its latest aid package.
The security package is expected to be announced later today, but White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that President Joe Biden has “determined that he would not provide ATACMS,” referring to Army Tactical Missile Systems, “but he is also not taking it off the table in the future.”
Earlier this month ABC News reported the Biden administration was closing in on providing ATACMS, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), to Ukraine. But even in that report White House spokesperson John Kirby emphasized that “no decision has been made.”
Today, Sullivan said Biden is “constantly speaking both to his own military and to his counterparts in Europe and to the Ukrainians themselves, about what is needed on the battlefield at any given phase of the war, and then what the United States can provide, while also ensuring that we are able to provide for our own deferred deterrence and defense needs.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has been wary of arming Kyiv with weapons that officials say could escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders and draw NATO directly into the fighting — though with previous once-controversial systems like Abrams tanks and F-16 fighter jets, the White House eventually backed away from its initial opposition.
After a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US is focused on “what Ukraine’s most urgent needs are” and called for allies and partners to rush artillery ammunition and air defense systems to the embattled country.
OP ED: Give Ukraine ATACMS before it’s too late
Another reason the US has offered up for not sending ATACMS to Ukraine, to which Sullivan alluded, is worry over America’s own stockpiles of long-range weapons. The Army and Lockheed Martin are currently developing a new missile, the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, to replace ATACMS, and the first PrSM iteration is about to make its way into the Army’s inventory.
As for whether that clears the way for stockpiled ATACMS to go to Ukraine, Army acquisition chief Doug Bush told reporters Tuesday, “A lot of things go into those decisions.”
“There’s an inventory of [ATACMS] versus potential military plans that has to be considered” by senior leaders, he said. “Also, lateral issues like, in this case, for example, the fact that [for] our PrSM Increment 1… we’re getting to actual deliveries of early missiles. That production line proving out of course helps balance that risk.”
If the White House ultimately decides to send ATACMS to Ukraine, Bush said the goal would be to simply replace that weapon with the newer one that is designed to hit targets at least 500 kilometers (311 miles) away.
“Beyond that, [and] out of my lane, is how do we work with Ukrainians on operational use of a system to ensure certain lines aren’t crossed?” Bush said.
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