US-supplied, long-range missiles of ‘limited utility’ for Ukraine

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

Oct. 17, 2023

US-supplied, long-range missiles of ‘limited utility’ for Ukraine

Ukrainian forces reportedly used American-supplied, long-range missiles on the battlefield for the first time on Tuesday.

David Silbey, associate professor of history at Cornell University, specializes in military history, defense policy and battlefield analysis. He says that although the missiles put some of northern Crimea in attacking range, there likely won’t be significant impact.

Silbey says:

“I think the new weapons are going to be of limited utility. The restrictions in number and range that the U.S. has put on them means that the Ukrainians won’t be able to hit a substantial number of targets for a sustained period. They will allow Ukraine to hit things that were previously beyond their capability, which will force the Russians to move their assets farther back or harden them against attack. In particular, it puts a bit of northern Crimea into range of attack, which makes it more difficult for the Russians to supply their troops in that area. So, there’s going to be a fair amount of noise around this, but I don’t think they move the needle all that much.”

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