Extended range GMLRS capable of launching cluster munitions

Elena Salvoni – Daily Mail Sept 11, 2023

The US could soon send longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, officials have said.

The Biden administration is close to approving the shipment, according to the officials, after seeing the success of cluster munitions delivered in 155 mm artillery rounds in recent months.

Washington is now considering shipping either or both Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 190 miles (306 km), or Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles with a 45-mile range packed with cluster bombs, three officials said.

‘Now is the time,’ one said as Ukraine‘s forces are hoping for a major breakthrough in their counteroffensive, which they suggest the weapons could help provide.

Last week Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed the US providing the long-range missiles and that he hoped for a positive decision.

If approved, either option would be available for rapid shipment to Kyiv. Ukraine is currently equipped with 155mm artillery with a maximum range of 18 miles carrying up to 48 bomblets.

The ATACMS under consideration would propel around 300 or more bomblets. The GMLRS rocket system, a version of which Ukraine has had in its arsenal for months, would be able to disperse up to 404 cluster munitions.

With Ukraine’s push against Russian forces showing signs of progress, the administration is keen to boost the Ukrainian military at a vital moment, two of the sources said.

The White House declined to comment on the report.

The decision to send ATACMS (right) or GMLRS, or both, is not final and could still fall through, the four sources said.

The Biden administration has for months struggled with a decision on ATACMS, fearing their shipment would be perceived as an overly aggressive move against Russia.

ATACMS are designed for ‘deep attack of enemy second-echelon forces,’ a US Army website says, and could be used to attack command and control centers, air defenses and logistics sites well behind the front line.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for ATACMS to help attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases, and rail networks in Russian occupied territory.

Ukrainian forces are currently attempting to pierce Russian lines just south of the city of Orikhiv in order to divide Russian forces and put its main supply lines under threat.

Sending Kyiv the long-range missiles which can carry cluster bombs would not only boost Ukrainian morale but deliver a needed tactical punch to the fight, the official said.

The US plan is to include the grenade-packed weapons in an upcoming draw from US stockpiles of munitions, according to the four US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the plan.

At present Ukraine has only one US-furnished cluster munitions, the 155 mm rounds that were announced in July.

The new weapons would improve Ukraine’s current 45-mile range GMLRS rounds, a version that blasts out more than 100,000 sharp tungsten fragments, but not bomblets.

Made by Lockheed Martin, ATACMS come in several versions some of which can fly four times GMLRS’ range, and their use could reset battlefield calculus.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the administration to take from US stocks and ship to Ukraine has proven to be the fastest way – days or weeks – to get armaments to Ukraine.

Ahead of the ATACMS arrival, necessary software upgrades could be performed on launchers including the M270 and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) which Kyiv has been using on the battlefield, two of the officials said.

But because no final decision had been made, it was unclear if the weapons would be included in the next PDA.

The weapons could come in a PDA as soon as this week, around a September 19 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.

Both sides in the war have used the weapons, usually with devastating consequences.

They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades after a conflict ends.

Washington has committed more than $40 billion in military assistance to Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on February 24, 2022.

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