It'd probably take a few more than that, as they might need to be fired in salvos to overcome air defences (the idea that ATACMS would struggle against air defences is floating around - mostly among a group of people who recognise that the idea that everything Russian is useless is not true but overcorrect significantly - is bollocks. It comes in very steep and very fast, like any ballistic missile. A significant majority of air defences systems couldn't even track it, let alone intercept it. S-400s might have a chance, but not against a salvo of multiple missiles). It's also important to note that the Kerch Bridge was built to support this invasion, and is designed for survivability, being effectively three bridges side by side, which also necessitates multiple hits.TopBadger wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:23 pmThe should is what I was getting at with the question of it has yet made it to the factory floor... The promise of the system is clear (cheaper missiles with 3x range with large stock of components for production) but what wasn't clear to me is if the system is completed and ready to ship. If GL-SDB is indeed being supplied then I very much hope that it's MLRS ready in quantity (or is going to be imminently).EACLucifer wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:10 pm...so it should be available in pods designed for M270 and M142 HIMARS
That being the case, I expect GL-SDB to be a bigger game changer than the tanks.
As for ATACMS - I'd be happy if the US gave them just two per month, to be used exclusively within Ukrainian borders - just that would be enough to keep the Russians worried.
For those wondering about GL-SDB, here's an image of what it's meant to be like. The front half is a well-established American guided glide-bomb, the back half is an old and in stock rocket booster originally used for cluster-rockets. The challenge is making the adaptors to fit the two together and getting them assembled and shipped. However, if the manufacturers can't get their act together to get this done, they should supply the Small Diameter Bombs with the appropriate software for ground launch, as I expect the Ukrainians, who have proven extremely ingenious and have many talented defence and missile engineers, could get them mounted on the boosters of Smerch, Uragan or even Tochka-U missiles.
In the meantime, whatever GL-SDB assemblies left over from testing should be supplied so as to knock out the bridge at Chongar and any other sufficiently high priority targets (things like landing ships and so on).