Announcement of what a senior U.S.
military official told me
is a major game changer
when it comes to weapons for Ukraine
in the war with Russia. U.K.
confirmed
it has delivered these to Ukraine
long range storm shadow missiles,
as they're no known.
It's a cruise missile,
usually air launched
and it has a range triple
that of the missiles
that Ukraine currently has
as supplied by the U.S..
I'm joined now by Cedric Leighton.
Let's talk a little bit about what
new capability this gives.
So the current weapons
range for Ukrainian forces as supplied
by the U.S..
49 miles, that's deliberate.
We'll talk about that in a moment.
The newest one, the storm shadow here.
A range get you up to about 155 miles.
What's the difference
that that makes for Ukraine?
So the difference of that
makes, Jim, is is really quite profound
because it's about triple the
the distance of the weapons
that Ukraine currently has.
This is the export version
of the storm shadow. Right.
The version that France and Britain use
actually has a double double
this range as well.
So what you're talking about
is a cruise missile
with stealth capabilities.
And it also has map of the Earth
navigation capability.
That means that it flies
about 150, 130 feet
above the ground
or a little less than that.
So this is a very important missile
from that state that could allow them to
to fool fly under Russian missile defense
that I've seen these flying in Ukraine.
And by the way, it's
scary to see one of them
because they don't fly that fast.
You could actually see them
as they move around.
And it's anyway, it's threatening
if you see one coming your way.
Let's look at the Ukraine map,
because distance is key here.
Now, in my reporting,
the agreement between the U.K.
and Ukraine
to get these weapons,
which they've been begging
for for a long time from the U.S.
and and its allies,
is that
they will only fire
inside Ukrainian sovereign territory,
some of which is, of course,
occupied by Russia, not fire into Russia.
So let's talk about the range here,
because this has a range of 50 miles.
Let's talk about and say
the distance
between, say, Zamperini
and Chris on here,
roughly similar to that distance.
So you could fire, for instance,
from here into Crimea.
That's right.
That's a problem for Russia.
And the key thing is, Jim,
that Crimea is recognized
by the UK as being sovereign
Ukrainian territory.
And as a result, of that.
That makes perfect sense
then for a weapon to be supplied
that has this range.
That's important
because it's not just here.
And by the way,
easy range
with this
to fire, for instance, into Donetsk,
Luhansk, the eastern provinces
currently as well,
the red areas here
occupied by Russian forces.
The problem
for some of the chiefs of color, again,
just so it's easier for people to see,
is that with this range,
you could conceivably
fire across the border into Russia.
And that's
what has concerned US officials.
I should note again, though,
Ukrainians have said they will not.
Why does that concern U.S. officials?
So what they want to do
is they want to make sure
that no Russian territory
is in range
of any Ukrainian weapons system.
And the reason they are doing
that is because,
for example,
right about here is Belgorod.
And that is an area
that has nuclear weapons.
It also has a Russian military base.
And it's so close to the Ukrainian border
that would be within easy range
even of the weapons systems
that Ukraine currently has.
So they want to make sure
that the Ukrainians
live up to this promise
so that they don't elevate the tensions
and bring the Russians
into a higher level of fighting.
We know, for instance,
that Ukrainians
have been asking for this
this this is a US
long range missile system
known as the attack arms based on it's
based on its acronym.
They're 185 miles a little bit longer.
They wanted this.
Instead,
they're getting the storm shadow.
Major difference there
for Ukrainian forces.
So there's some difference.
This actually has a slightly longer range
than what the storm shadow provides.
But the big difference actually
is that
the storm shadow has some capabilities
that the attack arms does not have.
And those capabilities include a GPS
map of the Earth navigation capabilities.
And the reason for that,
it actually
allows for more efficient
use of firepower
and more effective targeting.
Interesting.
So so a little less range,
more capability.
And again,
before we go,
just noting
Ukrainian forces,
they're preparing for a counteroffensive
right now.
And this new weapon system,
this new missile
system, it's
going to give them capabilities
they didn't have before.
Cedric Leighton, thanks
so much as always.