WASHINGTON, October 2. /TASS/. The American Tomahawk cruise missile is easily shot down by modern effective air defense/missile defense systems, but the possibility of its use with a nuclear warhead poses a serious danger, Lawrence Wilkerson, US Army Colonel (Ret.) and former chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, told TASS commenting on the prospects of Washington transferring Tomahawk missiles to Kiev.

"This is a tempest in a teapot in many respects, except for one very dangerous aspect of the now-very old system that is the Tomahawk, much upgraded to be sure, but old nonetheless. It's slow and easily shot down by any state with reasonable air defenses," military and political analyst said. "But the dangerous aspect is that it can carry a nuclear warhead," he added.

Wilkerson confirmed that technically Ukraine would need American support to use Tomahawk missiles. "Yes, to use the cruise missile to its fullest capabilities, US help would be required," he said.

"When I was war planning in the USPACOM in the 1980s, the system was brand new and we were the only one asking for the 'D' version (nuclear). Our CINC believed, rightfully so, the only way we could get the USSR's attention in Kamchatka or around the Sea of Okhotsk was with a nuclear missile, because the conventional warhead was such a small warhead and only effective on small and pinpoint targets," the expert noted.

US Vice President JD Vance confirmed on September 28 that the Washington administration was considering the possibility of supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to other NATO countries for subsequent transfer to Kiev, with the final decision to be made by the US leader Donald Trump.