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ATACMS reference card · ARC Warning Reference card
ATACMS U.S. short-range, road-mobile ballistic missile. CSIS covers the MGM-140, MGM-164, and MGM-168 variants.
These cards are encyclopedic. They are not targeting, manufacturing, or acquisition guidance. A field says unknown/disputed when the cited open source does not state it. ARC Warning is not an emergency service.
Catalog revised 2026-10-10 . Also known as Army Tactical Missile System, MGM-140.
Published description Names, aliases, and NATO designation ATACMS. U.S. designations MGM-140, MGM-164, and MGM-168. No NATO reporting name is given on the CSIS page. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. The designations are CSIS’s page title and opening line. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Type and role Short-range, road-mobile, surface-to-surface ballistic missile. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. CSIS’s description. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Manufacturer and country United States. A current corporate page was not verified for this card, so the company is not named. Confidence: medium. The cited page supports this, with a stated limit. CSIS says the missile was developed in the United States. A manufacturer link that does not resolve is omitted. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Operators United States. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. Other operators are not listed here, because the CSIS summary used for this card does not provide a roster to copy. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Guidance CSIS: inertial guidance on Block 1, and inertial guidance plus GPS on Block 1A. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. CSIS also offers an accuracy estimate. That estimate is not an official figure and is not repeated. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Propulsion CSIS: single-stage solid propellant. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. Stated for the Block 1 and Block 1A descriptions CSIS publishes. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Published speed unknown/disputed Confidence: unknown. The cited page does not state this, so the card does not guess. The CSIS summary used here does not state a speed. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Range CSIS: Block 1 about 165 km. Block 1A about 300 km with the submunition warhead and about 270 km with the unitary warhead. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. The two blocks are different weapons. The figures are not averaged. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Warhead type and weight CSIS: Block 1 uses a 560 kg submunition warhead. Block 1A uses a 160 kg warhead in submunition or unitary high-explosive forms. How those warheads are dispensed is not described. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. Mass and the published type names are included. Dispensing detail is not. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Blast and fragmentation radius unknown/disputed Confidence: unknown. The cited page does not state this, so the card does not guess. The sources cited here give a warhead class or mass where they give one. They do not state a blast or fragmentation radius, and none is inferred. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Interceptability and countermeasures unknown/disputed Confidence: unknown. The cited page does not state this, so the card does not guess. No intercept method is stated on the CSIS page used here. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Reported unit cost unknown/disputed Confidence: unknown. The cited page does not state this, so the card does not guess. No unit price is stated on the CSIS page used here. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Service history CSIS says ATACMS was first used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Confidence: high. The cited page states this. Later wars are not inventoried beyond what that sentence supports. CSIS Missile Threat: MGM-140 ATACMS Media Verified government media
Exercise launch of ATACMS from HIMARS
Source: Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Dickson / U.S. Army, DVIDS
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Open the photograph on the source site
Taken 2023-07-27 . Public-domain exercise photograph, Talisman Sabre 2023. Not combat footage. The file is linked, not copied onto ARC Warning servers.
Seen in ARC Warning No approved ARC Warning record currently names this system.
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