Ukrainian military forces revealed on Thursday (October 3) that they had used the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) provided by the United States to strike a costly “Nebo-M” Russian radar station, thereby weakening Moscow’s ability to detect, track, and intercept targets.
The Ukrainian military made the announcement on the Telegram messaging app, but did not disclose the exact time of the attack nor the specific location of the radar station.
“The destruction of the Nebo-M radar will create a favorable ‘air corridor’ for the effective use of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian military believes Russia still possesses 10 of these types of combat systems, each estimated to be worth over $100 million.
Several media outlets, including Reuters, reported on this news, although Epoch Times was unable to independently verify the information.
Earlier this spring, the United States delivered long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. At that time, White House National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan stated that Ukraine had pledged to only use these weapons within its own territory. Currently, Russian forces occupy about 18% of Ukrainian territory.
The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is a ground-to-ground missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The base model of the ATACMS missile has a range of over 160 kilometers, while advanced models can reach over 250 kilometers, hence earning them the name of long-range tactical ballistic missiles.
In addition to ATACMS missiles, Ukraine has also received several batches of undisclosed quantities of Storm Shadow missiles.
Reports at the end of May stated that Ukraine had previously used ATACMS to target the Nebo-M radar located in Russian-controlled territory in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military described Nebo-M as “very complex” on Thursday.
According to Russian state media reports, this radar system is capable of detecting enemy aircraft and ballistic missiles up to 1,000 kilometers (approximately 620 miles) away.
The head of the Russian state-owned weapons manufacturer Almaz-Antey described the Nebo-M radar as a “threat of stealth technology” in 2021. At that time, Moscow’s state media reported that it could detect American F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters.
The Russian news agency TASS described Nebo-M as one of the radars that make up the “backbone” of Russia’s ground border network.
(This article referenced reports from Newsweek)