scale also known as storm shadow is an air-launched long-range attack missile
developed by european defense giant mbda systems recently the indian air force rafale
fighter jet was spotted with this missile the scalp is a derivative of the mbda system
apache anti-runway missile and has been offered primarily to the british and french armed forces
the weapon is used to strike high-value stationary targets such as air bases
radar installations communications centres as well as port facilities according to mbda due to its
long-range low altitude and subsonic speed storm shadow is categorized as a stealth missile these
missiles are already in service with countries such as egypt india italy greece saudi arabia
qatar and the united arab emirates the uae air force calls it black shaheen
storm shadow can be integrated into the tornado gr4 tornado ids saab griping mirage 2000
rafale eurofighter typhoon as well as the f-35 joint strike fighter
the scalp missile is equipped with fire and forget technology with a fully autonomous guidance system
it is 5.1 meters long with a wingspan of 3 meters and a body diameter of 0.48 meters
while mbda says that the 1300 kilograms missile has a range of more than 250 kilometers
experts claim that the missile can exceed 560 kilometers depending on its launch altitude
one rafale jet is capable of carrying two scalp missiles which are part of its weapons package
the uk ministry of defence placed a 1 euro and 13 contract with mbda systems for the
development and production of the storm shadow long-range missile the programme is
intended to meet the royal air force's armed conventional stand-off missile requirements
italy orders storm shadow weapons for deployment on the italian air force ids tornado in the same
year the uae awarded mbda systems a contract for storm shadow missiles for the mirage 2009 fleet
french director generaled alarm and also awarded a development and production contract
to mbda systems the french version known as scalp is intended for the mirage 2000d
and rafale aircraft jets have dropped these missiles during the initial phase of the
invasion of iraq and during airstrikes in libya according to reports storm shadow
was also used by saudi arabia during its mission against the houthi rebels in yemen
france has used these missiles to carry out combat missions as well naval versions of
this weapon have also been developed to launch missiles from surface warships and submarines