“A lot of pro-Ukraine people seem kinda disappointed that instead of the single warhead and 300km range ATACMS missiles that were going to destroy the Kerch Bridge, Ukraine will likely be provided the cluster warhead variant, reportedly with a reduced range of 140km.
This is what it looks on the map (by @AndrewPerpetua) .
The smaller circles represent the current range the Ukrainian HIMARS are capable of striking Russian targets on the southern front (around 80km).
The 140km range does seem to be enough to cover the entire supply routes on the southern front, the ones coming from the east (Mariupol-Volnovakha segment) as well as the one coming from Crimea.
On top of that, if these missiles are anything as accurate and as effective at penetrating the Russian air defense as HIMARS currently is, it means that the Russian airfields in the south are in big trouble.
Think of all the Ka-52 and all aircraft operating from there, they will be in big trouble if Ukrainians are just as capable of striking deep as they are doing right now with counter-battery fire in Tokmak front.
Also it is likely that the Russian long-range air defense will fall further back.
So far the S-300/S-400 systems have been mostly deployed just a little further away from the 80km range Ukrainian HIMARS have.
Now as you can see on the map the usage of ATACMS could potentially create a weak spot on the Russian air defense just north of Crimea. This will surely make it easier for Storm Shadows, SCALP-EG and Taurus missiles (which are very likely coming as well) to continue to strike military facilities in Crimea and possibly even allow such missiles to strike & destroy the “dream target” itself...the Crimean Bridge.
Of course, success is not guaranteed, even K. Budanov himself stated that it will take at least several hundreds of such missiles to have a significant impact in this war, but this post is just to show that these missiles can do much more than some people think, especially in combination with other western missiles and the F-16s which are expected to arrive next year, we will certainly see way more strikes against Russian targets in Crimea.
Even with the current limited resources the Ukrainians still have managed to cause a lot of damage so they will surely do a lot better once they get these new big toys.”
https://twitter.com/MilitaryLabb/status/1705593611746721823
” U.S. Army Hospital in Germany Is Treating Americans Hurt Fighting in Ukraine”
“The Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center has quietly started admitting Ukrainian Army soldiers who were wounded in combat, most of them American volunteers.”
“A group of Ukrainian Army soldiers pierced by Russian grenades and mortar shells arrived at a hospital recently in need of surgery. It would have been a familiar scene from the bloody war grinding on in Ukraine, except for two crucial differences: Most of the wounded soldiers were American, and so was the hospital — the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center in Germany.
The Army has quietly started to treat wounded Americans and other fighters evacuated from Ukraine at its Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Though the number so far is small — currently 14 — it marks a notable new step in the United States’ deepening involvement in the conflict.”
AFAIK the Russians are no longer using airfields within 140km of the front lines, other than, perhaps, staging helicopters. Refueling, etc. These are too vulnerable to drone attacks and other munitions.