re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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And the following question about ATACMS the answer is yes they can be targeted by air defenses. The ATACMS flies faster than the standard rockets we give Ukraine for the HIMARS though so it would be harder to hit. It wouldn’t be easy for the Russians but it can absolutely be targeted and hit. I would think the U.S. factors that in to what they already send is intercept rate.

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That was pretty much what I found in the below links. The ATACMS is about Mach .5+ faster than the HIMARS system they currently have (Mach 3+ versus Mach 2.4). In theory the S-400 and to a lesser extent the S-300 could hit it, but the non-ballistic trajectory ATACMS employs would not make it a certainty.

Details on ATACMS:

Military Today - ATACMS

Wikipedia - MGM-140 ATACMS


Below article mentions the HIMARS speed and interesting claim that Ukraine employed GRAD systems to spoof air defences when launching HIMARS. I wonder if a similar strategy could be used for ATACMS.

Global Defence Corp - Hard to kill, why HIMARS are so difficult to intercept - Aug '22

Edit: Grammar