US still refuses to transfer ATACMS to Ukraine
US still refuses to transfer ATACMS to Ukraine
The administration of US President Joe Biden refuses to transfer long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, despite requests from Kyiv and pressure from US lawmakers.
The administration of US President Joe Biden refuses to transfer long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, despite requests from Kyiv and pressure from US lawmakers.
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I'm guessing the US arsenal of ATACMS missiles is rather limited and they have their own reasons for not making it smaller, which they can't go into detail about. Frustrating, but understandable.
The best theory I have seen is the Biden administration is trying to 'manage' the conflict. A belief they can dictate levels of aid to determine a geo politically satisfactory outcome.
Concerns around unmanaged escalation made sense but the UK has been pretty focussed on methodically moving up the escalation ladder to demonstrate Russia won't resort to nuclear strikes (Brimstone, Challenger 2 tanks, setting up the F16 coalition, Storm Shadow, etc..).
The USA expects China to be the next conflict zone, that is a naval/air situation where ATACM's can't be used. Suffering a shortage of ATACM's in the near term isn't really an issue especially if you've already put in place contracts to address the gap.
PrSM isn't ready yet.
I'm convinced this is the real reason they haven't been sent yet
IMO it's also about not looking like the boss of NATO -- a lot of tankies in Europe like to complain that they're just puppets.