AGM-88 HARM
On August 7, the Russian military found wreckage of a new type of AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile in Ukraine, which had not previously been used in combat operations. The missiles belonged to NATO, but the United States initially refused to acknowledge its involvement in supplying the missiles.
On July 28, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the missiles would be supplied from Europe, but no confirmation were provided. The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radar Missile) is designed to destroy radar stations. This missile was developed in 1982. Its length is 4.17 meters and the weight of the warhead is 66 kg. The range of missile launches is from 25 to 150 km. The missile has built-in special devices that track radio waves and aim at radio wave sources. On the back of the missile there is a marking “BSU-60 A/B”, the marking gives out the American production of missiles.
These missiles were not included in the official U.S. arms supply lists. The Pentagon did not initially comment on them either.
The HARM missiles had already been used in combat. Ukrainian-made aircraft were not designed to use HARM missiles, otherwise, they would have had to be heavily upgraded, as almost the entire Ukrainian air fleet consists of Soviet-era aircraft.
At the moment, there are several speculations that on August 9 the Russian troops were hit by American planes flown by Ukrainian pilots or that American fighter jets simply flew into Ukrainian airspace and carried out a series of strikes. U.S. authorities deny the incident, as they also deny supplying missiles.
Back in March, the U.S. began to form a strike group of F/A-18G Growler aircraft, which are designed to fight air defense. The planes have special signal jammers and create interference over a large radius. HARM missiles are compatible with these aircraft . The missiles were on the US balance sheet and they will be included in the new military aid package.
On August 8, the Pentagon has already confirmed previous shipments of missiles to Ukraine. The Pentagon announced that Washington had sent Kyiv anti-radar missiles that could be used by Ukrainian aircraft against Russian radars.
At a press conference, Deputy Defense Secretary Colin Kahl said that Washington had sent some missiles to Kyiv in the latest shipment, without specifying the type or number of missiles, which turned out to be HARM missiles. Kahl noted that the missiles could be fired from Ukrainian aircraft. This was the first official confirmation from the U.S. side of the transfer of AGM-88 HARM missiles to Ukraine. Kyiv did not publicly acknowledge receiving or using HARMs, but the wreckage of this particular American-made missile was found on Ukrainian territory. Kahl also announced a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, which is supposed to be mainly spent on ammunition.
Providing military supplies, training the Ukrainian military and sending US citizens fighting together with Ukrainian soldiers, the US and other Kiev’s Western allies are already at war with Russia.
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