The Biden Administration is reported to be “open” to sending long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine. The missile under consideration is the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, an advanced, stealthy cruise missile with an operational range of up to 230 miles, that would be used to arm the F-16s that are being supplied to Ukraine. According to a report in Politico, yesterday, no final decision has been made on sending the missile, but the administration is working through the complicated details now, according to one Biden administration official. Those issues include reviews of the transfer of sensitive technologies, and ensuring Ukraine’s jets can launch the missile.
The JASSM, developed by Lockheed Martin and first fielded in the early 2000s, has been used by the U.S. sparingly in combat and has been shared with only a handful of close allies. Missile maker Lockheed Martin has delivered over 4,100 JASSMs in various configurations to the U.S. Air Force and allies over the years, with a new production line in Alabama churning out around 45 missiles a month to reach a stockpile goal of 7,200 missiles, Politico reports, citing Pentagon data.
But at the Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters yesterday that the U.S. remains concerned about the escalation around Ukraine and believes that Kiev has no particular need to use weapons with longer range. “We believe the best way that they can be effective on the battlefield is by knitting those [NATO-supplied] capabilities together and continuing to push forces back to regain their sovereign territory,” she said. “That doesn’t necessarily happen by doing long-range deep strikes within Russia. And of course, we’re worried about escalation.”
“So just because Russia hasn’t responded to something doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t in the future,” Singh added. “And that’s something that the administration is always weighing.”
The attack on Russia’s borderline region of Kursk has so far had no effect on the list of weapons supplied by Washington to the Kiev government, Singh said. “So, in terms of weapons that we’re providing Ukraine, in the immediate, it doesn’t impact what we’re providing them,” she said. “But you’ve seen us change the types of weapons and systems that we’ve given over the course of time.”
