Ukraine will be able to attack Moscow with its own long-range missiles: The Telegraph evaluates the development

Ukraine is preparing for a possible reduction in US military aid and is actively developing its own weapons. In particular, Ukrainian experts are currently working on several long-range munitions, including the modernization of the Ukrainian "Trembita" missile, which could become the cheapest long-range missile in the world.

Among other things, Kyiv plans to use Ukrainian long-range weapons to strike Moscow: we are talking about thousands of such missiles. This is stated in the article by The Telegraph.

The author of the article, David Axe, emphasizes that even though in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, has been trying to supply Ukraine with as many weapons as possible, the new administration may reduce or even stop military assistance to Ukraine. At least, Trump has made such threats many times before. And, given his "impulsiveness and pro-authoritarianism," the newspaper believes, the new US president may indeed do so.

"The Ukrainian government is taking no chances. It is in a hurry to develop weapons that it can build, pay for, and use on its own with or without the unreliable, unpredictable Americans," the article says.

One of the main symbols of Ukraine's desire for autonomy in terms of the ability to engage targets, especially in the Russian Federation, is the new Ukrainian "Trembita" cruise missile. It may well replace the US ATACMS missiles with a 300-kilometer range when they run out.

In addition to "Trembita," intensive work is underway on other domestic long-range munitions. And, according to the author of the article, "a lot of them are being developed."

The "Trembita" missile is quite compact. It is only 2.13 meters long and weighs just over 90 kg. It is launched from a ramp, equipped with a noisy impulse jet engine with a simple design (tubular fuselage and square wing), and is guided by GPS.

"This simplicity gives ''Trembita'' its best feature: low cost. The basic "Trembita," which has been under development since 2023, costs only $10,000. It has a range of only 90 miles (about 145 km – Ed.) with a 40-pound (18-kilogram – Ed.) warhead. PARS, the Ukrainian company that manufactures the "Trembita," is working on a larger, longer-range version that should be able to reach Moscow, which is 400 miles (over 643 km – Ed.) from the Ukrainian border," the article says.

The development is expected to be completed in about a year. The author of the article emphasizes that the new version of "Trembita" will cost more than $10,000 as a basic version, but there is every reason to believe that it could become the cheapest long-range missile in the world. And the new "Trembita" will certainly beat the price of ATACMS, which costs more than $1 million.

"There is no reason why Ukraine cannot purchase thousands of "Trembitas" even without external budgetary assistance. The same cannot be said for the more expensive domestic deep-damage munitions that Kyiv is working on, such as the "Hrim-2" ballistic missiles and "Neptune" cruise missiles," The Telegraph writes.

And the massiveness of potential strikes, the newspaper adds, will be of great importance, because against the backdrop of large-scale Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, industry, and the energy system, Ukraine needs to seriously increase the number of its own strikes against Russia to more effectively attack military facilities, oil refineries,s and defense enterprises in Russia. This task is physically impossible to realize with the meager number of Western ATACMS and Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG missiles that our partners have provided.

Moreover, according to The Telegraph, it is possible that Ukraine will not receive any more ATACMS missiles after Trump arrives in the White House.

"Trembita" is not ATACMS, Storm Shadow, or SCALP-EG. It lacks the payload of an American munition, the penetrating power of British and French missiles, and the accuracy of all three. Replacing smaller, less accurate Ukrainian munitions with larger, more accurate foreign munitions would force Ukrainians to reconsider what targets they hit and how," the article says.

At the same time, the author of the article suggests that massive strikes with "Trembitas" would be quite effective in destroying large Russian enterprises. However, strikes on underground command posts using these missiles would probably not be as effective as the destruction of such targets by British Storm Shadow.

"By relying more on their own weapons, the Ukrainians may have to resort to a different set of targets. But at least they will be able to continue hitting targets," the publication adds.

In any case, the author notes, Ukraine realizes that Western aid may soon be reduced and is preparing for it.

Earlier, The Economist reported that Ukraine is developing a missile capable of reaching Moscow. The article called the new version of the "Trembita" missile "an important element in the country's defense strategy."

The authors of the article emphasized that the development of the "Trembita" has lasted only a year and a half, which is an impressive period for such a complex engineering task. It will be put into mass production after successful final tests.

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