On November 27, a resolution of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly called on alliance member countries to provide Ukraine with medium-range missiles with a range of 1,000 - 5,000 km as stipulated in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Despite the consensus of the NATO General Assembly, the plan to provide medium-range missiles to Ukraine has not yet been committed by any country. This is because only a few NATO countries possess missiles with a range of more than 1,000 km and the US is leading with Tomahawk missiles.
A mobile Tomahawk missile launcher of the US military. (Photo: US Department of Defense)
If we evaluate the ability to provide medium-range missiles to Ukraine, only the US has the capacity to meet the current battlefield intensity. The Tomahawk missile itself has also participated in many conflicts and proven its effectiveness.
The biggest problem now is that to deploy the Tomahawk, Ukraine needs Mk 70 vertical launchers and MRC Typhon. These are all new weapons, even the US military is not yet equipped with them on a large scale.
Another issue is that US President Joe Biden has less than two months left in his term and pushing through the Tomahawk transfer plan is too urgent. Besides, even if Kiev had Tomahawks, it would not have a chance to end the conflict with just a few missiles.
Even if it were possible to transfer a few dozen Tomahawk missiles to Kiev, such an action would lead to an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict. Moscow’s reaction could be more severe than if the US allowed Ukraine to use ballistic missiles to attack Russian territory.
In the worst case scenario, the US or NATO could be drawn into a direct conflict with Russia, because Ukraine does not have the capacity to operate NATO missiles, most of which are carried out by US military advisers.
Experts say the current escalation of the conflict is part of a larger strategy by the Biden administration to “make things as complicated as possible,” with the ultimate goal of preventing a peace plan after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
An easier solution than delivering Tomahawks would be for Washington to provide the JASSM-ER air-to-ground missile. This weapon has a range of up to 1,000 km and can be deployed from F-16 fighter jets.
Like the Tomahawk, the JASSM-ER did not change the balance of the conflict and was not powerful enough to lead Ukraine to victory. The use of longer-range missiles would only lead to a stronger response from Russia with unpredictable consequences.
The transfer of Tomahawk and JASSM-ER is also indispensable without support from the US. If Mr. Trump changes his policy after returning to the White House, all current efforts will be meaningless.
NATO leaders are well aware of the risks of such actions but have still given their support to the plan.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/my-se-chuyen-giao-ten-lua-tomahawk-cho-ukraine-ar910167.html
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