Looks like it’s true that Turkey requested permission from the US to transfer 12 M270 MLRS and 70 ATACMS missiles to Ukraine.
The corresponding request was published in a House of Representatives notice dated August 6.
Turkey is asking the US for permission to transfer the following list of weapons to Ukraine:
▪️12 M270 MLRS (an analogue of HIMARS, less mobile, but with 12 launch tubes instead of 6);
▪️2,524 M26 cluster munitions for them (up to 30 km);
▪️separately, 47,000 cluster 203 mm artillery shells (used in M110 howitzers, which are in service with at least one Ukrainian artillery brigade, but they have also been adapted for Soviet 2S7 Pion self-propelled guns)
🟰for a total of
55.9 million.
Separately:
▪️70 ATACMS missiles of an unspecified modification
🟰for a total of
8 million.
The notice says that the US government is ready to approve the transfer of the weapons.
The transfer of the weapons is supposed to take place immediately after Congress is notified.
Turkish military analyst Arda Mevlutoglu commented on it like this:
“If Turkey is preparing to transfer offensive weapons systems to Ukraine, especially tactical ballistic missiles such as ATACMS, that means that ‘something’ has changed.”
I don’t know what changed, but apparently Erdogan realized that Putin is completely unhinged and something has to be done about it.
An absolutely massive aid package, just like in the Biden days. There are also cluster artillery shells in it, indispensable for repelling Russian assaults (don’t underestimate the importance of artillery even in the drone era).
70 ATACMS is, of course, not a panacea. And yet, maybe they’ll even manage to catch a couple of Iskander launchers. We’ll see how they end up using them.
🐘🇹🇷Teşekkür ederim, you Turkish elephants.
\\
Thanks for the tip to Geopolitics and ASTRA.
Urgent Aid Awaiting Someone Else's Permission
Turkey asked the US to approve sending Ukraine 12 M270s and 70 ATACMS.
Urgent, apparently, still needs adult supervision.