According to the Wall Street Journal, The Biden administration gave new details on plans to hand over missile systems to Ukraine
Kyiv has asked for longer-range weapons to strike Russian targets as it struggles to defend against attacks in the eastern part of Ukraine.
Read more: Over 50 units of M777 Towed Howitzers in Ukraine, Next HIMARS or M270 – Washington Post
The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System the U.S. plans to send has roughly twice the range of the M777 howitzers that the U.S. has provided to Ukraine.
U.S. officials said last week that the White House was nearing a decision on what rockets to provide to Kyiv but didn’t identify the specific weapons that would be sent.
Officials said late Monday that the goal in sending the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System—or GMLRS—is to boost Ukraine’s firepower against Russian troops who have invaded the country’s Donbas region, without enabling Kyiv to expand the war deep into Russian territory.
“We are not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia,” Mr. Biden said.
The rockets that are being sent have a much shorter range than the Army’s tactical-missile system, which can travel more than 185 miles and which the administration isn’t including in its next arms package for Ukraine.
It couldn’t be determined how many of the GMLRS rockets the U.S. would provide. One official said they could arrive in Ukraine within weeks. Training on their use would begin quickly and take at least 10 days.
The rockets would be outfitted on a wheeled launcher called the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
The system is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., which describes the rockets as among the “MLRS family of munitions” since they can be fired from either an MLRS tracked launcher or a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System wheeled launcher.
Read more: Ukraine to Get HIMARS Rocket Launchers, But Without ATACMS: What GMRLS Missiles Can Do
