Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine: Expert analyzes challenges and NATO's role in decision
Photo: Illustrative photo (navy.mil)
Tomahawk missiles come in sea, air, and ground-launched variants. The United States (USA) does not have many ground-launched versions available to transfer to Ukraine, states military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
NATO has demonstrated its ineffectiveness
Commenting on the news that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly recommended alliance member countries to provide Ukraine with medium-range missiles, Zhyrokhov stated that the North Atlantic Alliance has already demonstrated its ineffectiveness in a full-scale war. Decision-making within NATO depends on the consensus of all its members, which is often complicated by the positions of individual countries such as Hungary, Türkiye, Italy, and Slovakia, which block certain initiatives.
NATO does not possess its own armed forces or weapons that could be quickly transferred. As a result, support often remains at the level of political statements.
Real assistance can only be expected through weapons supplies from individual states, such as the UK, France, or Germany. At present, such support is mostly symbolic, demonstrating the solidarity of European countries.
Possibility of transferring Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine
"The US is not focused on us right now. First of all. Secondly, the issue of carriers for these Tomahawks needs to be resolved. Because Tomahawks exist for sea, air, and ground launch platforms, but there are not many ground-launched ones in the US to transfer anywhere," explained the expert.
According to Zhyrokhov, in the event of potential conflicts with countries like China or Iran, especially during Donald Trump's administration, the transfer of such strategic weapons seems unlikely.
Victory plan and the request for Tomahawks
On October 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the strategic plan to the Verkhovna Rada aimed at achieving victory in the war with the Russian Federation. The document consists of five key points, supplemented by three classified annexes, the content of which has not been officially disclosed.
However, journalists learned about one detail of the closed part of the plan: Ukraine intends to request Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Later, the president confirmed the request for the missiles.
