The American missiles that could change course of Ukraine war
If approved the radar-evading cruise missiles would most likely be fired from Ukraine's fleet of F-16 fighter jets, representing a significant escalation of American support.
The standard 'JASSM', which has a range of 230 miles, is the version to be sent to Ukraine, according to unconfirmed reports by Military Watch, a defence news website. It was used by US fighter jets for the assassination of Abu Bakr-al Baghdadi, the leader of Isis, in 2019.
Armed with a 450kg warhead, the missile was originally designed to evade Russian S-300 air defences and can fly at low altitudes to avoid enemy radar.
Ukraine has only one other air-launched cruise missile in its arsenal — the Anglo-French Stormshadow, which has a range of 155 miles. It also has Atacms, ground-launched ballistic missiles, with a range of 190 miles, at its disposal.
However, judging by Russia's advances in recent months and the increasing rarity with which Ukraine is able to launch large strikes on enemy supply lines, Kyiv's supply of missiles is running low.
• Trump announces Patriots for Ukraine and threatens Putin with 100% tariffs
President Zelensky had unsuccessfully lobbied for Germany to give Taurus missiles with a range of 310 missiles. A donation of these would be significant because the distance from the Ukrainian border to Moscow is about 280 miles, meaning that Taurus missiles could allow Zelensky to strike the Russian capital.
Although it is unlikely that JASSMs could reach Moscow, they would put at least 30 Russian airbases within range.
This would complicate Russian efforts to launch frequent airstrikes on Ukraine even though the Kremlin has moved many of its most valuable jets away from the border to protect them from airstrikes.
Armed with JASSMs, Ukrainian pilots could risk flying into Russian airspace to get closer to their targets, but this would expose Kyiv's precious F-16s to Russian air defences.
The JASSMs would be most probably used to launch strikes on Russian ammunition dumps and command headquarters in the hope that Ukraine can stretch Moscow's supply lines and slow the recent advances.
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