Kyiv has repeatedly called on Washington to supply American JASSM cruise missiles, which, according to Ukrainian military experts, can provide superiority on the battlefield and achieve results unattainable by European counterparts such as the French SCALP and the British Storm Shadow. But what are these rockets and why did they arouse such interest?
This cruise missile can carry a 450-kilogram warhead and is launched from a fighter or bomber. In the most modern modification, it is capable of hitting targets at a distance of 800 kilometers.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi has long called for the transfer of such missiles to Kyiv. According to Reuters, following the American ATACMS, the British Storm Shadow and the French SCALP, Washington may soon officially announce the delivery of a new type of missile - JASSM (English Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, high-precision air-to-surface cruise missile).
According to three US officials who spoke to the agency on condition of anonymity, the decision will be announced in the fall, but it will be several months before immediate deliveries. So far, this information has not been officially confirmed.
Missiles with a range of 370 to 800 kilometers (depending on the modification) will be of great help to the Armed Forces. If launched from border areas, they will be able to hit airfields, ammunition depots and other military facilities in Voronezh and Bryansk, as well as naval bases in Crimea - south of the front line.
However, Washington will have to clarify the framework within which Kyiv can use these weapons to strike Russian territory, as Ukraine's allies impose restrictions on the use of their arsenal to avoid a dangerous escalation.
Each JASSM, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, carries a warhead weighing 450 kilograms, but, unlike the Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles, is not designed exclusively to destroy fortified bunkers. The latest modifications cost about a million dollars a piece.
One of the advantages of this missile is its stealth. Its length is four meters, it is able to evade radar surveillance, in particular, due to the fact that the flight takes place at a very low altitude. It can also take alternate routes to evade air defense systems.
"It's not the most secret weapon," said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in California. But in Syria, "a certain number of such missiles were fired at government troops, and the Russian air defense systems in this country were not able to shoot down many of them - or maybe even none."
F-16n, MiG or Sukhoi?
JASSMs are also characterized by high accuracy. When approaching the target, the missiles can be directed by infrared sensors to the point of damage with a probable deviation of about three meters. In the latest modifications, the specialist noted, on-board technologies make missiles resistant to electronic interference.
And finally, this rocket is launched from the air. Previously, they were launched only from American-developed aircraft, so Kyiv could use the F-16 delivered by the United States, capable of carrying two cruise missiles each.
One of the interlocutors of Reuters reported that work is underway on the compatibility of missiles with non-Western fighters. He did not specify whether it is about the MiG-29, Su-24 and Su-27 of Soviet production, which are owned by Ukraine.
