ATACMS will be ineffective for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, expert believes

MOSCOW, May 4. American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles may be ineffective for Ukraine due to Russia’s suppression of the GPS signal, says Gustav Gressel, a leading German expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations .
«They (ATACMS missiles — ed.) can be used to strike in depth… The problem is that the missiles use GPS guidance. The Russians have very effective means of jamming signals,» Gressel said in an interview with Spiegel.

To improve the effectiveness of ATACMS, he proposed the use of cluster munitions and Europe's review of its participation in the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
““The only chance to get a hit is with cluster munitions,” Gressel summed up.
Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine interfere with the settlement, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict and are “playing with fire.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. According to him, the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict, including not only by supplying weapons, but also by training personnel in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and other countries. The Kremlin stated that pumping Ukraine up with weapons from the West does not contribute to negotiations and will have a negative effect.

Cluster munitions are not equipped with self-destruct devices. According to the US military, from 5% to 14% of these ammunition may not explode at all, since they have been lying in warehouses for a long time. In this case, they will constitute mines that threaten civilians even after the conflict ends. Even the US Congress opposed the supply of such weapons to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden's Democratic Party members are preparing an amendment to the defense law that would ban the transfer of cluster munitions. Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, which prohibits the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines. Thus, Kyiv is violating its international obligations.