Tomahawks needed to paralyze missile production at 12 key Russian plants - Defense Express

Defense Express analyzed recent reports from The New York Times and the Jamestown Foundation. The latter concluded that to disrupt missile production in Russia, Ukraine needs Tomahawk missiles to target 12 key factories located up to 1,500 km away.

According to The New York Times, Ukraine has requested Tomahawk cruise missiles from the U.S. as part of its Victory Plan.

The Jamestown Foundation's report shows that these 12 important factories for Russia's missile industry are between 500 and 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, highlighting the need for long-range missiles to reach them.

Defense Express suggested that Ukraine's request, mentioned by The New York Times, was specifically for land-based Tomahawk missiles, which the U.S. Army uses with its Typhon medium-range systems.

Currently, the U.S. Army has only two Typhon batteries, each with four launchers. However, the Typhon launcher for the Tomahawk is based on a flexible solution: a standard Mark 41 launcher, typically used on U.S. Navy ships, has been adapted for land use.

The publication noted that long-range 'kamikaze' drones alone won't be enough to take out the 12 key factories in Russia's missile industry. Tomahawk missiles are much better suited for this task.

Defense Express also pointed out that analysts at the Jamestown Foundation casually suggested that Ukraine should develop its own liquid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile. They implied that this could be done in just a few months, but the reality is that such a project would take several years, even under ideal conditions.

• On the night of October 27, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the operation of air defense in a number of regions. An enterprise was damaged in the Voronezh region.