They can’t deliver anywhere near the explosive power of conventional munitions as ground attack aircraft. Since it appears that the Russians control the air there is no way these SSMs are an improvement over aircraft. This is a message to us,much the same as Ike’s sending the atomic cannon to Korea in 53. Ball’s in our court.
It isn’t a message of any sort. The Russian forces have used tactical ballistic missiles as part of their inventory for decades now. It is part of their military ethos and tactics to use such battlefield SRBMs. They were using them in Chechnya back in the 1990s.