Russia changes tactics, will strike not only military, but also infrastructure facilities

Russia has changed its tactics in the zone of the special military operation after Ukraine struck Russia with long-range Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles.

Photo: flickr.com by Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, CC BY-SA 2.0

Special military operation in Ukraine

"First, we shoot them down. Of course, there is a certain percentage that will reach a certain target if the attacks continue. We will fight this. (…) We are familiar with all these missiles. We have our means to combat these missiles, and we will hit them," Alexey Chepa, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs said.

"Naturally, we will change our tactics, and we have already done so. We will be forced to strike not only military, but also infrastructure facilities, which will significantly complicate opportunities and life for official Kyiv. We will make every political effort to stop these attacks deep into [Russian territory]," the official added.

The missiles that Ukraine has at its disposal are not the most powerful ones, he also said.

"Many of the missiles that were delivered to Ukraine, including ATACMS, (…) they are obsolete already," Chepa said.

He explained that the US defence complex is disposing of everything obsolete to place new orders.

On November 17, US President Joe Biden authorised Ukraine to use long-range ATACMS missiles to hit Russian territory. According to NYT sources, this decision was made against the background of Moscow allegedly deploying North Korean troops in the zone of the fighting.

On November 19, the Ukrainians used American ATACMS for the first time to strike Russia. Six such missiles were launched to hit the Bryansk region of Russia, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

On November 20, the Ukrainian military launched a massive missile attack to strike the Kursk region by firing at least 12 British Storm Shadow missiles.

Details

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS ) is a supersonic tactical ballistic missile designed and manufactured by the US defense company Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), and later Lockheed Martin through acquisitions. It uses solid propellant and is 13 feet (4.0 m) long and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter, and the longest-range variants can fly up to 190 miles (300 km). The missiles can be fired from the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). An ATACMS launch container (pod) has one rocket but a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid to prevent an enemy from discerning what type of missile is loaded.

The Storm Shadow is a Franco-British low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. "Storm Shadow" is the weapon's British name; in France it is called SCALP-EG (which stands for "Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée – Emploi Général"; English: "Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System – General Purpose"). The missile is based on the French-developed Apache anti-runway cruise missile, but differs in that it carries a unitary warhead instead of cluster munitions.