Why is Russia "fierce" when the US supplies Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine?

Why was Moscow so “fierce” when the US President gave the green light to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine? And as a result, President Trump had to cancel this.

The US President's attitude towards providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a range that can reach the Russian capital Moscow, became clear after Ukrainian President Zelensky's visit to the US on October 17. It was pressure from Moscow that made US President Donald Trump say "No" to Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine.

Russia has stepped up its public response measures in recent weeks, notably with Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian National Security Council, stating on October 13 that Washington's provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine "could harm all parties, especially President Trump himself." So what is the main point of this statement and what does it mean?

On October 13, Mr. Medvedev announced that the Tomahawk cruise missile version carrying nuclear and conventional warheads would be indistinguishable in flight. And when the Tomahawk missiles flew into Russian territory, they would also not be able to distinguish which missile was launched by Ukraine and which was launched by the United States?

Medvedev’s logic goes like this: Once Kiev gets hold of Tomahawk missiles and uses them to attack Russian territory, Russia will face two unanswerable questions. First, whose plan is this? Is it Kiev’s “independent action”, or is it Washington’s doing?

Second, what kind of attack scenario is this? Is it a conventional attack, or the beginning of a nuclear attack? In a tense war situation, no country wants to bet its survival on a “situation”; the only reasonable option is to prepare for a counterattack based on the worst-case scenario, namely a nuclear retaliation.

Faced with the inability to distinguish between Tomahawk missiles, the nuclear version, and conventional warheads; in this way, a nuclear crisis caused by a proxy war could immediately occur with the US, Mr. Medvedev asked the question: "How should Russia react to Tomahawk missiles?".

First of all, we need to understand about Tomahawk; this is a multi-purpose cruise missile with subsonic speed, with a range of 1,600 - 2,500 km, produced by the US; can operate in all weather conditions. Its characteristics include long range, low cruising altitude, terrain-hugging flight ability and certain stealth features.

Therefore, the Tomahawk missile has high penetration and survivability, good lethality, high flexibility and can be launched from many different types of launchers. Currently, only the US Navy is equipped with Tomahawk missiles, launched from surface ships and submarines (the reason is that the US is affected by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the US in 1988).

The Tomahawk cruise missile variants, whether launched from ships or submarines, are essentially identical in size, weight, propulsion, and launcher. The main differences are the warhead, engine, and guidance system. In other words, they look the same, but are indistinguishable to the naked eye, or even to reconnaissance radar.

More importantly, since its introduction into service, the Tomahawk missile has participated in many wars of the US military; it has even been used mainly in first strike missions, and it has been dubbed the “Messenger of War” by the Western media.

The Tomahawk is a very effective long-range strike weapon, but its nuclear strike capability is not to be underestimated, it is designed to carry a nuclear warhead. It is just that the US military has never used it on the battlefield, which makes many people overlook this point.

In fact, the W80 nuclear warhead is mounted on the US Navy's Tomahawk missile, with a destructive power equivalent to 5,000 to 150,000 tons of TNT. This type of Tomahawk missile carrying a nuclear warhead is deployed by the US on four modified Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines.

The maximum capacity of an Ohio-class submarine is 154 Tomahawk missiles. Therefore, the tactical nuclear deterrence capability of this missile type should not be underestimated.

From this perspective, Medvedev’s statement makes sense. Let’s try to put it in a more understandable way: If the US supplies Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, how does Russia know whether the Tomahawk missiles flying towards Russia were launched by Ukraine or the US, and whether they carry nuclear warheads?

In this case, Russia can only respond in the worst-case scenario, which is to use nuclear weapons against Tomahawks. Thus, Washington's provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine could very easily turn into a direct nuclear conflict between the US and Ukraine. (Photo source: Al Jazeera, Wikipedia, TASS)

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