Ukraine wants U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles or similar weapons to free up the use of the Black Sea port of Odesa, which is under a de facto Russian blockade.
and other ports for the export of millions of tons of grain and food. The ports are currently under a de facto naval blockade by Russian forces off the coast, Crow said.
“They need long-range drones that could have much longer ranges and that are re-armable, so not just the kamikaze drones, but things like we have in our U.S. inventory that can go out, strike very long distances, and come back to be rearmed with precision munitions,” he said. “They need things that can reach out 100-plus kilometers. Artillery can’t go that far. Artillery can go half that distance at best or a third of that. The rocket launches can reach much further and be devastating to enemy units,” Crow said.
The Biden administration has previously said the Harpoon anti-ship missiles are not a good fit for the Ukrainian navy and that Ukrainian ships would not be able to accommodate the Harpoons. But Crow said they could be based on land and added that Ukraine has proved capable of handling advanced weapons and fighting with ingenuity.