Near the Beriev Aircraft Company (TANKT) in the russian city of Taganrog which was attacked earlier today, a sustainer engine from an ATACMS ballistic missile was discovered. Photo evidence is already being actively shared on social media.
This indirectly confirms the type of weapon the Ukrainian Defense Forces used to strike this aircraft factory on the Wednesday morning of December 11, 2024.
Read more: Ukraine Strikes Aircraft Factory in Taganrog and the Druzhba Oil Pipe in Bryansk
Up until this point, there had been some confusion: russian unofficial sources spoke in general terms that the Beriev factory was hit by some ballistic missiles while local authorities warned of an incoming aerial drone threat.
Accordingly, this clear indication that it was American ATACMS missiles used emphasizes how in fact historical this strike is: after all, this is the first publicly known instance of a russian military-industrial complex enterprise targeted by Western-made tactical missiles since the outbreak of the russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
As far as known from public data, the specific consequences of this strike are unknown, so there is no basis to assess exactly which ATACMS variant was deployed — the M39A1 with a 165-kilogram cluster warhead and an operational range of 290 km or the M57 with a 227-kg unitary warhead and a 300-km range.
The defense industry plant in Taganrog is located about 150 km from the current line of contact — thus excluding the possibility that the M39 variant of ATACMS was used (warhead weight is 560 kg, firing range is 165 km).
For a reminder, the Beriev Aircraft Company, targeted by this historic missile strike, despite being widely known as the manufacturer of A-50 airborne early warning systems, is actually involved in a range of important aircraft projects. Specifically, it makes Tu-142 anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on the Tu-95 strategic bomber and hosts various tests of russian Orion unmanned combat aerial vehicles.
Earlier, Defense Express estimated that in order to completely paralyze missile production in russia, Ukraine needs to strike 12 key factories with Tomahawks at a range under 1,500 kilometers from potential launch positions.
Read more: Kh-BPLA Missiles Found on the Downed russian Orion UCAV
