Ukraine’s slow, methodical and effective counteroffensive is accomplishing what it needs to: bleed Russian forces across the more than 600 miles of frontline. Still, critics in the West are growing uneasy about how long this “death by a thousand cuts” approach is taking.
Ukraine is responding to those critics essentially by saying, “If you want this war over quickly, give us the weapons needed to make it happen.” Specifically, that means Taurus and ATACMS missiles.
There’s no doubt Ukraine wouldn’t exist today without help from its Western allies. HIMARS from the U.S. and Storm Shadow missiles from the U.K. are now a part of the pop culture in Ukraine, with the latter even getting its own short National Geographic-styled “mockumentary.”
Kyiv had hoped Britain and France sending the long-range Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles would spur Germany and the United States to send their own respective long-range missile systems.
Ukraine is reportedly in talks with Germany to get Taurus missiles. They’re very similar to Storm Shadows and are even made by the same company, MBDA Missile Systems. Like the Storm Shadows, Taurus missiles are also air-launched, but they have a longer range and pack a different sort of punch.
Taurus missiles are accurate up to at least 300 miles. They also have dual-stage warheads, allowing them to penetrate deeper before detonation. The Taurus boasts the world’s first programmable fuse, which allows users to decide when to detonate the warhead’s second stage.
Taurus missiles are better suited to strike bridges and bunkers, letting Ukraine save its Storm Shadows for less hardened targets like warehouses and storage depots. Ukraine proved its effectiveness in deploying Storm Shadows almost as soon as the systems were delivered, striking Russian supply lines and storage depots that were previously too far behind enemy lines to hit. However, Storm Shadows aren’t having the desired impact on hardened structures like the bridges connecting Crimea to southern Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said as recently as Aug. 3 there were no plans to send Ukraine Taurus missiles. However, on Aug. 7, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament posted on his Facebook page that the German Parliament came to a consensus and would send the weapons.
Pistorius said sending Ukraine Taurus missiles isn’t a priority, and he pointed out the Americans also haven’t sent the Army Tactical Missile System to Ukraine. He was quickly criticized for his comments about long-range weapons not being a priority for Ukraine, but he’s not wrong about the U.S. dragging its feet on ATACMS.
Ukraine has been asking for ATACMS for more than a year. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he talked to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken about ATACMS during a phone call on Aug. 7.
ATACMS have a longer range than Storm Shadows, but shorter than the Taurus. However, unlike those other missiles, ATACMS don’t need to be launched from a plane. Ukraine can use HIMARS instead.
Russian air defenses are keeping Ukraine’s air force away from the frontlines, which limits the effectiveness of air-launched missiles. With ground-launched ATACMS added to the mix, Ukraine said its armed forces would truly have enough strike capability to put all of Crimea within range.
Supplying Ukraine those weapons, however, would also bring parts of Russia into range. That’s why, at least for now, the U.S. and Germany are saying “no” to the long-range missile systems.
Reuters contributed to this report.
