The United States has just over a thousand ATACMS missiles with various warheads. It is publicly known that so far the Ukrainian Armed Forces have received a version with a cluster warhead.
The Ukrainian army has officially begun receiving ATACMS long-range missiles. Several videos of Russian targets being hit by ballistic missiles have also appeared online. Focus figured out what versions of ATACMS exist and what the Defense Forces received.
The United States, as part of military assistance to Ukraine, transferred HIMARS and M270 multiple launch rocket systems. The first is capable of carrying one ATACMS ballistic missile, and the second – two. The Ukrainian army first received missiles with a range of 160 km and a cluster warhead; now it is officially announced that it will supply MLRS with a range of 300 km.
ATACMS strike on a concentration of Russian Armed Forces in the Lugansk region
May 1 OSINT analyst JB Schneider wrote in X (formerly Twitter) about the successful defeat of Russian troops in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region, 80 km from the contact line. The Ukrainian military fired three ballistic missiles at once. Estimates by other OSINT analysts indicate that as a result of the strike, about 110 invaders and their equipment were eliminated. ATACMS was used on an enemy training area.
This example was one of the last publicly known uses of rockets. Most likely it was ATACMS. Before this, there was also a strike on the temporarily occupied airfield in Dzhankoy. According to journalists, the United States secretly sent more than 100 ATACMS to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
What versions of ATACMS are there?
The Ukrainian army is aware of the presence of a cassette version of the MGM-140A with 950 submunitions in each projectile. The maximum range of such missiles is 165 km. This is the most popular version of the ammunition, but it has an inertial guidance system. The farther you are from the target, the less accuracy will be. In the United States, work was carried out to replace the warheads of such missiles with unitary ones.
There are 5 versions of ATACMS ballistic missiles:
- Block I (M39) – 165 km range and 950 submunitions. The guidance system is inertial. Number of created – 1650;
- Block IA (M39A1) – range 70-300 km and 300 submunitions. Guidance system – inertial and GPS. Number of manufactured 610;
- Quick Reaction Unitary (M48) – range 70-300 km and unitary combat high-explosive fragmentation unit of the WDU-18. Inertial and GPS guidance system. Number of manufactured – 176 units;
- TACMS 2000 (M57) – range 70-300 km and warhead WDU-18 or others. Inertial and GPS guidance system. Number of manufactured – 513.
- M57E1 modified – range up to 300 km. Warhead WDU-18 or others with an air blast sensor. Inertial and GPS guidance system. The number produced is unknown.
Ammunition for HIMARS and M270
Photo: US Army
It is unknown which version Ukraine will receive with a range of 300 km. If we are talking about a cluster warhead, then it has a GPS and INS guidance system. Its main task could be command centers, airfields and concentrations of manpower of the Russian Armed Forces. Also, a cluster warhead can destroy vehicles or aircraft on runways.
The difference between the M39 and M39A1 is not only in range, but also in the number of submunitions. The shorter-range version has 950, and the long-range version has 300. This is due to the need to increase the amount of fuel so that the rocket can fly over a longer distance, as well as the integration of GPS guidance.
The cluster submunition is visually similar to a baseball. Asymmetrical design provides rotation upon release. At a speed of 2400 rpm, the fuse is turned on and a whole cloud of fragments is created. Following the example of the defeat in the Lugansk region, Def Mon analyst was calculatedthat the affected area was 340 square meters from three missiles.
The radius of dispersion of fragments from the defeat of the Russian Armed Forces
Now in the United States they are working to re-equip the M39/A1 with a cluster warhead with a new one with a unitary warhead. This process is due to the fact that many manufactured ammunition have reached their expiration date. Therefore, it is unknown how many more missiles the United States can transfer to Ukraine. As of October 2023, the United States had about 1,000 ATACMS missiles, the Center for International and Strategic Studies reported.
ATACMS missile with unitary warhead M48, M57 and M57E1 have a different warhead. The M48 missile has a WDU-18/B warhead weighing 230 kg. The same one is installed in the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The M57 missile has the same warhead.
Replacing the warhead in an ATACMS missile
The future of ATACMS – what is being developed in the USA
To replace ATACMS ballistic missiles, the United States has already developed the PrSM (Presicion Strike) missile. Manufactured and developed by Lockheed Martin. It is planned to create several iterations of the rocket, the latest of which will have a range of 1000 km. HIMARS and M270 will also be able to launch the new rocket. Engineers were able to increase the number of missiles on board to two on HIMARS and to four on M270.
Visualization of the PrSM rocket
In December 2023, the US Army received the first samples of PrSM ballistic missiles. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition Doug Bush said the PrSM precision missile will provide U.S. forces with “a 24-hour, all-weather capability that will counter the adversary’s ability to conduct combat maneuvers and air defense operations.”
At the last stage of flight, the rocket’s speed can reach Mach 5 or 6125 km/h. Serial production of PrSM missiles should be established before September 2025. In addition, the ballistic missile received improved GPS antennas, an optimized warhead and a new rocket engine.
