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Long-range strikes: Why has Biden changed his mind?
The Guardian
|November 19, 2024
Joe Biden has permitted Ukraine to use US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles against Russian and North Korean forces inside Russian territory.
Officials in Washington told reporters the weapons could be used in the Kursk region, where Kyiv has launched an incursion, but that the US president may agree to their deployment elsewhere before Donald Trump comes to power. The first strikes using ATACMS rockets could come within days. But what are they and why are they important for Ukraine?
What are their capabilities?
The missile system is known as Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS (pronounced "attack 'ems"). It was developed during the cold war to destroy Soviet targets and Kyiv has been using them already, but only on targets in occupied areas of Ukraine.
Made by Lockheed Martin, the missiles can strike targets up to 190 miles away. Ballistic missiles fly much higher in the atmosphere than most rockets and can evade anti-air defences as they hit the ground at huge speeds.
ATACMS are considered long-range, although they do not have the range of a cruise or intercontinental ballistic missile.
Why has the Biden administration changed position?
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