Ukraine could hit Kovrovets ATACMS, this opens up new prospects, - Forbes
Date: 2024-05-20 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
On Sunday, May 19, the Ukrainian Armed Forces sank another warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the minesweeper Kovrovets. In just 27 months of full-scale war, Ukraine destroyed or damaged more than a dozen pre-war Russian ships.
According to Forbes, the Kovrovets was sunk using a pair of American ATACMS missiles. This munition is designed for land attacks and its use as an anti-ship weapon is quite unusual.
This is due to the fact that the accuracy of ATACMS with inertial guidance, according to most sources, is about 9 meters from the target. When it comes to a ship, this is not enough.
At the same time, the ATACMS M39 at 160 km and M-39A1 at 300 km scatter hundreds of grenade-sized submunitions, which makes up for the lack of accuracy. They are capable of damaging the top of the ship, but are unlikely to sink the ship, since this requires breaking through the hull.
However, if ATACMS was used to sink Kovrovets, this could mean that there is a 270 km version of the M48 or M57 ATACMS 300 missile with 200 kg warheads in addition to the M39 and M39A1 ATACMS with submunitions.
This suggests that M48 and M57 are more accurate than many observers assumed, and the implications are significant. The Black Sea Fleet vessels that remained in Sevastopol are within range of the M39A1, M48 and M57.
"If ATACMS is destroying Russian warships in Sevastopol, it's hard to imagine the base being of much use to the Russians," added Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews.
At the same time, the S-400s, which were hunted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Crimea, were unable to intercept ATACMS. According to military consultant Nuno Felix, the Russians do not have the capabilities to counter these missiles.
No less alarming for the invaders is the fact that ATACMS could pose a serious danger to the Crimean Bridge. The precision that allowed an M48 or M57 to hit a ship would help hit a bridge, explained Fabian Hoffmann, a researcher at the Oslo Nuclear Project in Norway.
There is also another logistics line - the railway through the Russian-occupied south of Ukraine. If Ukraine can block it and demolish the Kerch Bridge, it will be able to cut off Russian troops in Crimea. Then the peninsula will be at a disadvantage.
