Russian experts have discovered a critical flaw in the U.S.-made ATACMS missiles, revealing that their cluster munitions sometimes fail to detonate upon landing. These tennis ball-sized explosives, packed with tungsten for deadly shrapnel, pose a hidden danger as they remain live and sensitive to movement. This revelation could significantly impact the dynamics of the Ukraine conflict, with Russia emphasizing that Western arms supplies only escalate tensions without altering the war’s outcome.
Sputnik Globe reported that according to a weapons specialist, Russian specialists investigated the internal design and operational concept of a cluster submunition of a US-made ATACMS missile and discovered the height at which the explosives do not detonate.
The submunition is a green, spherical device about the size of a tennis ball, with protrusions along one circumferential axis.
“M74 cluster submunition. An ATACMS long-range missile has 275 of these. The opening of the cassette occurs about 200 meters [656 feet] above the ground. Due to the protruding feathers, overtaking flow starts rotating it. When it gains about two thousand revolutions, the centrifugal stoppers separate to the sides, and the engine inside rotates. The primer/detonator is placed opposite to the striker. The munition explodes upon impact with the surface,” the specialist said.
When the cassette opens regularly and the munition lands but does not detonate, the striker remains cocked and cannot be adjusted, he explained. Civilians must exercise extreme caution when encountering such a “ball,” he said.
“The jacket consists of a stamped coating. The inner casing is made of tungsten alloy, which has notches. The outer and inner shells are spot-welded. The explosive and the fuse itself are inside. The RGO hand grenade [defensive Soviet fragmentation hand grenade] has a similar internal design. Only we use steel, they use tungsten,” the specialist added.
According to the weapons specialist, tungsten helps shards travel faster after detonation.
“The effective fragmentation radius, according to the data, is about 20 meters. But, objectively speaking, some fragments can penetrate a metal door even at a distance of 50 meters. The fragment cloud is smaller, the probability of being hit is lower, but the stopping power of the shrapnel is a greater threat. The fall of 250 fragments covers a square of 400 by 400 meters, submunitions fall about five meters apart,” he said.
Russian officials consistently warned that any arms supplies to the Kiev regime would merely exacerbate the conflict and have no impact on the ultimate fate of the special military operation.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that Russian experts have obtained the guidance system from a U.S. ATACMS missile, a high-tech weapon recently provided to Ukraine. By analyzing its components, such as ring laser gyroscopes and GPS modules, they aim to uncover the missile’s weaknesses and strengths.
