ATACM Long Range Missile is Unstoppable

This is the US Army’s Tactical Missile System that can yeet missiles 300 kilometers (190 miles) within a margin of error of give or take 10 meters. You’re not placing warheads on foreheads, you're choosing which strand of hair you want to hit on the enemy's dome. So why is the ATACM so hot right now? Major news outlets reported that on September 21st, President Biden promised a small number of ATACM missiles to Ukrainian President Zelensky in a closed door summit at the White House. No official statement has confirmed the decision and no ATACMS are included in the latest $325 million dollar security assistance package, at least four US officials speaking anonymously leaked the news to the press.

Written by: Chris Cappy & Diego Aceituno
Edited by: Maksym

If true, the decision to send the long range ATACM missiles ends over a year of the Ukrainian government asking for this capability. It’s a major reversal of American policy because until now, the US had refused to send ATACMs to Ukraine, citing a variety of reasons from the weapon’s long range would allow strikes into Russian territory, along with concerns that the US didn’t have enough to send without seriously compromising its ability to fend off other threats like China. At least China doesn’t get triggered in the comments section when I say something redundant like ATACM missile.

How and why was this system developed? Are defense analysts correct that the US might not have enough missiles to handle emerging threats in the coming years? And why is the US government changing its mind about sending the weapon to Ukraine after over a year of denials? I’m your average infantryman @cappyarmy on instagram let's find out.
Background
Take a look at the huge missile loaded into the ATACM. That missile weighs 227 kilograms or 500 lbs. The M270’s conventional loadout has two pods with six missiles each, but at 13 feet in length and 22 inches in diameter, the MGM-140 takes up an entire pod by itself, meaning an M270 can only carry two ATACMS instead of 6 regular rocket artillery. It’s so big that when it's a unitary bomb like this it has a kill radius of about 262 feet or 80 meters. According to my average infantryman math that’s 60% larger than a 155mm artillery shell. The ATACM was first made famous during Operation Desert Storm, its a ground-launched, guided ballistic missile that can be fired from either the M270 MLRS or M142 HIMARS launch vehicles. The Washington Post reported that they estimated the US army had 1,486 ATACMS in its arsenal. 364 are armed with cluster munitions and the rest with unitary bombs. How accurate those numbers are I’m not sure because The Pentagon won’t officially release the exact number it has in inventory for national security reasons. They sound accurate when you consider the US actually terminated the ATACMS program in 2007 because the costs were too high to justify it at the time. Remember this was back when the focus of the US military was now on counterinsurgency warfare and the ATACM had limited use there. This meant no new ATACMS missiles were added to the US inventory during that time. However the “ Service Life Extension Program” did refurbish older missiles into current operational versions. That didn’t start until 2016 renewed missiles didnt reach the US until 2018. Around 4,000 ATACMS missiles of various types were produced by Lockheed-Martin in total. Minus the 600 that were fired in Iraq. But that doesn’t mean the US has 3,400 left over because Missiles systems degrade over time. The chemical compounds in rocket motors, explosives, hydraulic systems get old and become ineffective over time. Its reported shelf life is ten years so that could mean the only operational missiles the US Army has might only be whatever has been refurbished and delivered by Lockheed-Martin since 2018 which does make 1,486 sound right.

#WAR #ARMY #MILITARY

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Task & Purpose is a military news and culture oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry.

[ihavetowaitdaystochangem]

I like it how “Yeet” is technically now an actual Dictionary word that’s being used by US Army personnel

[AndreiKucharavy]

7:45 - There might be still a confusion remaining between Deep Battle and Blitzkrieg in this explanation. Deep Battle does not search for weak points, it creates them by building up pressure. Similarly, the assault on the weak points is not by elite units but by massive amounts of regular troops kept in reserves, with elite motorized troops being the one to exploit the breach to strike into theater-level targets within 50-150 km from the frontline.

[atomicburrito]

18:42 My man barely flinches when the missle launches as he's cruising by on his bicycle lol

[bigleem]

I was a MLRS crewmember and fired rockets in Iraq... but never an ATACM. We loaded one once and were so excited except we never got green on the mission.

[WingmanSR]

The dude riding the bike right by a rocket launch is a badass 😂 18:41

[sangmoon]

The bulk of the money value of the US aid is for equipment that is already built and paid for. The money is probably more accurately defined as being an economic stimulus into the US economy because it is used to replenish military inventory.

[Talotta]

As on old nuke cop we used to have a saying “Send a nuke to you in 30 minutes or less or the next ones free!” Used to make me lol every time.

[krayzeekay]

Thank you for talking about Ukraine. The media is eerily quiet all of a sudden, probably because of Israel.

[ButFirstHeLitItOnFire]

You know, Ukraine’s struggle to survive Russia is something of a data goldmine for militaries the world over…
We see how old tech holds up against new tech (which is to say at a disadvantage in a straight fight, but still viable with some outside the box thinking or if it fills an otherwise abandoned niche), we see the flaws and limits of newer systems unfold in practical situations that can be corrected for the future, we see just how practices on and off the warzone have to be adjusted in a potential war between modern powers, (logistics, training, etc…)…
The irony with this situation is that it’ll probably stall any _other_ planned invasions (COUGH COUGH CHINA V TAIWAN COUGH COUGH) as those would be aggressors now HAVE to sort through their own forces potential problems (complacency, corruption, incompetence, outdated and/or poorly designed tech, etc…)

[privacyvalued]

DARPA also gave the world the basic foundations of the Internet. The Internet gave us YouTube. YouTube gave us this channel.

[sundhaug]

2:54 the pod for the ATACMS actually looks like it has 6 tubes, in order to hide if the canister has ATACMS or not

[glennchartrand]

Russia's "Special Military Operation" has done such a good job of demonstrating NATO weapon systems that Raytheon and BAE Dynamics should be paying Putin a sales commission.

[badgerpa]

The 4 that leaked the information should be arrested, there is a lot of leaking and they arrest a low level kid but never go after the others.

[SVTCobra]

The Kerch Bridge is falling down
falling down
falling down
The Kerch Bridge is falling down
the A-TAC-MS

[GoatGun]

Pew pew pew! Nice history brief, thanks for doing these.

[EmperorCheed]

The remains of M39 missiles (Made in 1996 and 1997) of the MGM-140A ATACMS Block I system used by Ukrainian forces against Berdyansk AB.

This variant has a range of ~165km, inertial guidance, and carries 950 M74 submunitions.

This makes it 27 years old.

[yowman]

It's been a rough month, but seeing you thirst over a hot alien got me to actually laugh out loud. Thanks cappy, fantastic video!

[roccobruno]

The Ukrainian army having the ATACM allows them the ability to target key positions or key command structures that are time sensitive. Additionally, this also means not having to rely on the Air Force which can be targeted by surface to air missiles.

[peggyslater]

I really appreciate the amount of detail you provide. My hubby was a DAT in the Army and drove one of the first M1 Abrams in Europe in the early 80's when he was stationed in Germany. He has the same understanding of military "toys" that you do, Cappy.

[jacekpaszkowski]

The ATACMS missile housing body which was fired at Berdynyansk airport at the Russians a day or so ago had a date of 1996 on it.