Ukraine's Own Ballistic Missile Now Ready, Doesn't Require NATO Permission

Ukraine's domestically designed and produced ballistic missile has completed tests and is ready for deployment. 

The implication is that Ukraine will now be able to strike targets in Russia as it sees fit, no longer having to endure the frustrating current 'Mommy, may I?' regimen that has prevented it from further degrading Russian military capabilities. JL

Decimus reports in Daily Kos:

Ukraine has completed tests of its domestically developed Hrim (“Thunder”)-2 tactical ballistic missile. Designed to replace the Soviet-era Tochka-U missiles, the Hrim-2 has a range of up to 700 km for Ukrainian forces, surpassing its previous range of 450 to 500 km. One of the missile’s key features is its evasive capabilities, including an aeroballistic flight path that allows it to bypass modern air defense systems like Russia’s S-300 and S-400. Ukraine getting a new ballistic missile free from use restrictions could be a major advance in the country's long-range strike capabilities.

Ukraine’s now familiar constant request for permission to use Western-made long range munitions to strike military assets and targets deep in mainland Russia looks to be finally coming to an end with the news today that Ukraine has completed tests of domestically developed Hrim(“thunder”)-2 tactical ballistic missile.  

According to President Zelenskyi and other Ukrainian officials including Yehor Cherniev, head of Ukraine's delegation to NATO, the 10 year long development project has passed its field tests and will soon be ready for deployment:

"Trust me, there will soon be concrete results visible not only to Ukraine but also to the russian federation,"

en.defence-ua.com/...

While Cherniev suggests a range of 192 km for the Hrim-2, other experts variously describe the missile as:

a short-range ballistic missile system developed to rival Russia’s Iskander missile. Designed to replace the Soviet-era Tochka-U missiles, the Hrim-2 has a range of up to 700 km for Ukrainian forces, surpassing its previous range of 450 to 500 km. The export version of the Hrim-2, however, has a range of 50 to 280 km. One of the missile’s key features is its evasive capabilities, including an aeroballistic flight path that allows it to bypass modern air defense systems like Russia’s S-300 and S-400. The missile system’s versatility, enabling the launch of both ballistic and cruise missiles, makes it effective for a wide range of applications, from air defense to coastal operations.

armyrecognition.com/...

Earlier in an August 27, 2024 exposé on the missile after President Zelenskyi announced the first successful tests, TWZ indicated among other things that:

Ukraine getting a new ballistic missile free from use restrictions could be a major advance in the country's long-range strike capabilities.

it is not hard to see the value of such a weapon for the Ukrainian military as an additional option for launching stand-off strikes without any foreign restrictions, especially against targets inside Russia.

www.twz.com/...

Russia presents many challenges on the battle field which Ukraine is struggling to deal with but I believe having a weapon like the Hrim-2 which has such deep strike capability in conjunction with Ukraine’s fast developing long range drones will enable Ukraine to confront Russian air defenses with a bewildering multi-layered tapestry of airborne attack … all across the battle trace in Ukraine and deep within Russia itself.  Here’s hoping, on another level, that Ukraine will also continue to ramp up its personnel recruitment to meet the current Russian surge in unrelenting “meat assaults”... Levée en masse.