The Pentagon has now officially confirmed that it has transferred AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, or HARMs, to the Ukrainian Air Force. This comes nearly two weeks after U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl had confirmed the delivery of unspecified anti-radiation missiles to Ukraine’s armed forces. The evidence of HARM usage in Ukraine had first appeared on social media just days before Kahl’s comments, and more had subsequently emerged online.
In addition, a senior U.S. defense official, speaking to The War Zone and other outlets today, disclosed that the Ukrainians integrated these missiles, with American assistance, onto their “MiG aircraft.” The only MiGs that are currently in service in Ukraine are its MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets.
Anti-radiation missiles like the AGM-88 are primarily designed to home in on enemy signal emitters, especially air defense radars, including those directly associated with surface-to-air missile systems, and neutralize them.
The press call with the senior U.S. defense official was centered on details about a new U.S. military aid package for Ukraine, which is valued at up to $775 million. In addition to the HARMs, it includes 227mm GMLRS precision-guided artillery rockets for use with U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and variants of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) provided by other Western countries, TOW and Javelin anti-tank missiles, 105mm M119 howitzers and ammunition for them, ammunition for the 84mm Garl Gustav family of shoulder-fired launchers, Scan Eagle drones, MaxxPro mine-resistant vehicles with mine rollers, and up-armored Humvees, among other things. This is the first time the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged transfers of TOWs, M119s, Scan Eagles, and MaxxPros to Ukraine.
Exactly what AGM-88 variants the U.S. military has provided to the Ukrainians, how the integration of those missiles onto the MiG-29 was specifically achieved, and what modes the weapons can be employed in from those aircraft all remain unclear. The War Zone has explored in detail how all this might work, as you can read more about here.
Beyond the Ukrainian Air Force’s much-in-demand single-seat MiG-29s, it is worth pointing out that the Ukrainian Air Force’s number of two-seat MiG-29UBs, which are ostensibly trainers, but still have limited combat capabilities. They lack a radar among a handful of other differences and are less critical to the air war than their single-seat counterparts. As such, they might have been good candidates for this integration work. Having a backseater could help with the additional workload that might come along with employing AGM-88s, if there is any robust in-cockpit control capability at all.
A picture of one of Ukraine’s MiG-29UBs from before the current conflict
The U.S. military’s transfer of AGM-88s to the Ukrainian Air Force, and now its formal confirmation of that, is also yet another example of an increased willingness on the part of American authorities to include more advanced weapon systems in aid packages. Deliveries of HIMARS launchers and GMLRS rockets, as well as plans to provide National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), are other prime examples of how U.S. policy has changed on this front in recent months. “On the NASAMS delivery, we’re expecting that to be within the next two to three months,” the senior defense official said during the call today.
There have been similar policy shifts observed among America’s NATO allies, too. For instance, just today, the German government revealed that it is planning to transfer 255 Leonardo Vulcano 155mm precision-guided artillery shells to the Ukrainian military. PzH 2000 tracked self-propelled 155mm howitzers, examples of which the Germans, Italians, and Dutch have sent to the Ukrainians, are among the artillery systems known to be able to fire these rounds. The original versions of Vulcano were designed to be fired from naval guns.
German authorities also say they will send the Ukrainian armed forces pickup trucks armed with launchers for 70mm laser-guided rockets. The U.S. government previously announced a still largely unexplained transfer of 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II laser-guided rockets, which you can read more about here, raising questions about whether these two things may be in some way related.
However, to date, the U.S. government, as well as its allies and partners, still have not publicly announced plans to provide Ukraine with additional combat aircraft, especially Western-made fighter jets. This is something that has been and remains a hot-button issue, as you can read more about here. The senior U.S. defense official had the following to say on that topic today:
“This is something where we certainly are looking at the Ukrainian Armed Forces, needs in every domain, in the current and in the future. In the current, our focus has been on capabilities that we can get them quickly that they can use in the current fight in now east and south Ukraine. So, in terms of aviation, we’ve focused on how we can enhance their existing aircraft fleet. That’s where the HARM missiles come into play, giving that them that additional advantage. We’ve also sourced from around the world 1,000s of spare parts for their MiGs. But in the future, we’re also looking at other capabilities that we might be able to provide them, and we’re doing work now on what the future of Ukrainian armed forces will look like. And considering all possibilities.”
However, discussions between American and Ukrainian officials on the matter of combat aircraft may or may not continue to evolve, the scope of what military aid the U.S. government is willing to send only continues to expand.
