THE UNITED STATES MAY SEND UKRAINE LONG-RANGE CRUISE MISSILES. EVEN IF A DEAL WAS APPROVED TOMORROW, THOUGH, IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE THE UKRAINIANS COULD ACTUALLY USE THEM AGAINST RUSSIA.

REUTERS IS REPORTING THREE DIFFERENT SOURCES WITHIN THE WHITE HOUSE SAID THE PRESIDENT MAY APPROVE SENDING AGM-158 JASSMs, OR JOINT AIR-TO-SURFACE STANDOFF MISSILES TO UKRAINE. THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT COULD COME THIS FALL.

JASSMs ARE STEALTHY AIR-LAUNCHED CRUISE MISSILES BUILT BY LOCKHEED MARTIN. THE UNITED STATES HAS A LOT OF THEM. SO MANY, THE AIR FORCE IS NOW LOOKING AT WAYS TO LAUNCH THEM OUT OF THE BACK OF CARGO PLANES BY THE PALLET.

THEY ALSO FIT MOST OF THE STRIKE AIRCRAFT IN THE U.S. INVENTORY WHICH MEANS THEY CAN FIT ON THE U.S.-DESIGNED F-16s UKRAINE IS NOW FLYING.
ONE F-16 CAN CARRY TWO JASSMs. BUT ACCORDING TO ONE OF THOSE WHITE HOUSE SOURCES, THERE ARE EFFORTS UNDERWAY TO RETRO-FIT UKRAINE’S SOVIET-ERA JETS SO THEY CAN ALSO JUMP ON THE JASSM TRAIN.

THE WEAPON COMES IN TWO BASIC VARIATIONS. THE ORIGINAL JASSM HAS A RANGE OF ABOUT 230 MILES. THE JASSM-ER, OR EXTENDED RANGE, CAN SAY HELLO TO ENEMIES A LITTLE OVER 600 MILES AWAY. MORE ON RANGE IN A MINUTE.

BOTH VARIANTS ARE DESIGNED TO BE ALL-WEATHER WEAPONS. THE MISSILE IS GUIDED BY GPS TO THE TARGET, BUT SWITCHES TO AN INFRARED CAMERA DURING ITS FINAL STAGE OF ATTACK, MAKING IT A BIT MORE RESILIENT TO ELECTRONIC JAMMING. IF THE RUSSIANS COULD EVEN TRACK THEM.
THE OUTER COATING OF THE MISSILE AND ITS OVERALL DESIGN MAKE IT VERY HARD TO DETECT ON RADAR, AND THEY CAN BE PROGRAMMED TO AVOID AIRSPACE WHERE ENEMY RADAR IS KNOWN TO BE ACTIVE. THE RUSSIANS ARE ALREADY HAVING TROUBLE STOPPING BRITISH AND FRENCH SUPPLIED STEALTH CRUISE MISSILES. WE CAN EXPECT THOSE DILEMMAS TO CONTINUE IF WASHINGTON DOES INDEED APPROVE SENDING THE WEAPONS.

SPEAKING OF DILEMMAS, I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE TOPIC OF RANGE AND HOW UKRAINE COULD USE THAT FEATURE OF THESE WEAPONS TO CREATE A LOT OF DILEMMAS FOR RUSSIA.

SO, HERE’S THE BATTLESPACE. THIS LINE AROUND UKRAINE HERE REPRESENTS THE RANGE OF THE AGM-158A, OR THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE JOINT AIR-TO-SURFACE STANDOFF MISSILE.

STANDOFF MEANS THE WEAPON CAN BE FIRED FROM A FAR ENOUGH DISTANCE THAT THE PILOT AND PLANE DOING THE SHOOTING WON’T BE PUT IN DANGER.

WHAT WILL BE PUT IN DANGER ARE THESE RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES. THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO DOZEN OF THESE FACILITIES WHICH ARE WITHIN RANGE OF JASSMS, INCLUDING THE WHOLE OF CRIMEA WHICH RUSSIA ILLEGALLY SEIZED IN 2014.
AND IF THE WHITE HOUSE AGREES TO SEND THE EXTENDED RANGE VARIETY OF JASSM–WEL, THE NUMBER OF DILEMMAS RUSSIA WOULD FACE WOULD GROW DRAMATICALLY.

‘BUT RYAN, ISN’T THERE A BAN ON UKRAINE USING US WEAPONS TO STRIKE TARGETS DEEP IN RUSSIA?’ YES, FRIENDS, THERE IS. AND I’VE REPORTED PRETTY EXTENSIVELY ON IT BEFORE, SO BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT AT SAN.COM FOR THE FULL BREAKDOWN.
D.C. DID MAKE A FEW EXCEPTIONS HERE AND THERE, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, UKRAINE JUST HAS TO SIT AND WATCH AS RUSSIA MOVES TROOPS AND EQUIPMENT AROUND WITH RELATIVE SAFETY DEEP BEHIND THE FRONTLINES.

WHICH IS WHY THE DEAL TO SEND JASSMs TO UKRAINE COULD ALSO INCLUDE AN ALTERATION OF THE RESTRICTIONS KYIV FACES WHEN USING U.S.-MADE WEAPONS.

RUSSIA, FOR GOOD REASON, IS NOT A FAN OF SENDING JASSMs TO UKRAINE OR OF THE U.S. LIFTING ITS RESTRICTIONS. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV SAID THE U.S. SHOULDN’T LAUGH AT RUSSIA’S RED LINES, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A NUCLEAR RETALIATION REMAINS.

BUT TANKS, ATACMS, F-16s–THOSE WERE ALL RUSSIAN RED LINES AS WELL, AND WERE ALL CROSSED WITH NO NUCLEAR STRIKE. UKRAINE’S INCURSION INTO KURSK ALSO CROSSED A RUSSIAN RED LINE, AND WITH SO MANY RUSSIAN RED LINES BEING CROSSED, THERE’S A GROWING BELIEF THEY MAY BE POINTLESS.

I REPORTED ON THAT TOO, AND YOU CAN FIND THE STORY AT SAN.COM OR ON THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON.