Russian reporters claim discovery of American ATACMS missile parts at occupied airfield

Russian military bloggers shared a photo allegedly from the airfield in Berdyansk, which was attacked by the Ukrainian Defense Forces overnight. The footage shows submunitions similar to the M74: they are carried by an American ATACMS missile.

After the Ukrainian military struck Russian airfields in occupied Berdyansk and Luhansk, propagandists' Telegram channels claimed that Ukraine had used long-range ATACMS missiles. The transfer of such weapons to the Defense Forces was not reported. Washington officially refuses to supply these missiles, but, according to the American media, US President Joe Biden could have given the green light. In September, Biden told Zelenskyy that the United States "will provide a small number of missiles" to Ukraine.

Later, the press service of the Special Operations Forces confirmed the successful attack and announced the destruction of nine helicopters, an air defense unit, an arsenal and "a dozen" Russians at two airfields.

Later, Russian propagandists published a photo showing, probably, M74 submunitions lying among the wreckage at the Berdyansk airfield.

The authenticity of these photos has not been confirmed, but in a video message on October 17, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked some Western allies for "effective weapons, as agreed."

REFERENCE. A single M39A1 ATACMS missile, which is equipped with inertial and GPS guidance systems, carries about 300 M74 submunitions. During the final attack phase, the missile performs a stabilized spin, with the payload dispenser caps breaking off and centrifugal force scattering the bombs along a large circular flight path. The size of the ATACMS impact area and the density of the bomb distribution can be changed by setting the departure altitude. M74 resembles a baseball and has a spherical high-explosive charge. Its asymmetric design also provides spin during take off.

On October 11, the United States announced a new $200 million aid package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces: it included additional ammunition for HIMARS systems, artillery shells, TOW anti-tank guided missiles, etc.

Officially, the USA did not announce the decision to transfer ATACMS to Ukraine. On September 22, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv is still working on obtaining long-range weapons from allies.