The United Kingdom has officially acknowledged that it is providing Ukraine with the long-range
missiles it specifically requested to aid in its defense against the encroaching Russian forces.
The missile is Storm Shadow. The decision follows repeated
pleas from Ukraine for more weapons from the West.
Viewers may note that earlier this year, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov
committed that longer-range missiles would not be used to attack targets within Russia itself.
He told an EU meeting, “If we could strike at a distance of up to 300 km,
the Russian army wouldn't be able to provide defense and will have to lose. Ukraine is ready
to provide any guarantees that your weapons will not be involved in attacks on Russian territory."
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes why the supply of Storm Shadow by Britain will complicate
matters for Russia in Ukraine? Let's get into the details.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the weapons
will give Ukraine the "best chance" of defending itself.
Mr. Wallace made the announcement in the House of Commons.
He said the missiles would "allow Ukraine to
push back Russian forces based on Ukrainian sovereign territory".
He explained the UK took the decision after Russia "continued down a dark
path" of targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
It is to be noted that when Mr Wallace wrote to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in December,
he said, that further attacks could result in the UK donating more capable weapons.
He said the missiles were "going into" or already in Ukrainian hands,
and described the move as "calibrated and proportionate to Russia's escalations".
Wallace said."None of this would have been necessary had Russia not invaded,"
He said the missiles would be compatible with Ukraine's existing,
Soviet-era planes and praised the technicians and scientists who made that possible.
Each of these missiles cost about £2m. Defence Secretary didn't divulge how many
have been sent, it has been estimated the UK holds a stock of between 700 and 1,000 of this missile.
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French low-observable, long-range,
air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace,
and now manufactured by MBDA. The French equivalent is known as SCALP-EG.
Storm Shadow entered into service in 2002. RAF Tornados used Storm Shadow missiles
operationally for the first time during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
It is comparable to cruise missiles such as the
American AGM-158 JASSM and the German-Swedish KEPD 350 Taurus.
Storm Shadow is equipped with a TR60-30 Turbojet engine, providing
it with a max range of 560 km or 350 mi. The missile has a top speed of Mach 0.95
Storm Shadow is equipped with a 450 kilograms or 990 lb BROACH warhead.
This is a two-stage warhead, made up of an initial shaped charge, which cuts a passage
through concrete, earth, etc., allowing a follow-on warhead to penetrate the target.
Because of this warhead design, cruise missiles can now achieve the level of
hard-target penetration that was previously limited to laser-guided gravity bombs.
For midcourse guidance, Storm Shadow employs a triple navigation system
using inertial navigation, GPS, & Terrain Reference Navigation. For terminal guidance,
it uses an imaging infrared seeker & automated target recognition software for pin-point accuracy
It is a fire-and-forget missile, programmed before launch. Once launched, the missile
cannot be controlled or commanded to self-destroy and its target information cannot be changed.
Recent enhancements include the capability to relay target information just before
impact and the usage of a one-way (link back) data
link to relay battle damage assessment information back to the host aircraft.
Storm Shadow is not a silver bullet. Being subsonic, the missile could be shot down by
the Russian air defense systems. We have seen that Ukraine using
Soviet-origin S-300 , has taken out several Kalibr cruise missiles.
But nonetheless, Storm Shadow is a great addition for Ukraine.
Russian command posts, logistical facilities, ammunition depots,
and other high-value targets that were outside of HIMARS range are no longer invulnerable.
This will likely complicate Russian planning and logistics.
Russia has noted this.
RIA Novosti, the Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet quoted Dmitry Peskov,
the spokesman for the Russian president,
"[The Kremlin is assessing the Storm Shadow supplies] very negatively.
This will require a relevant response from our military, which, of course,
will make appropriate decisions from a military point of view."