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- [Narrator] This is the Storm Shadow cruise missile,
the weapon that's providing Ukraine
with the strike range it needs
for its counteroffensive.
These highly precise weapons
have a range of over 155 miles,
three times that of the HIMARS in Ukraine.
With that kind of range,
these weapons are forcing Moscow to rethink its logistics.
Here's how these long-range DeepStrike missiles work,
and why the Storm Shadow is equipped
to take out key Russian command and control centers.
- The reach of a Storm Shadow,
it allows Ukraine to target
all of this territory you see here.
So if you look here at this map of the front lines,
that includes Crimea, places like, you know, Berdyansk,
where there's a lot of command and control.
- [Narrator] With a miniaturized jet engine,
lightweight materials, and autonomous navigation systems,
the Storm Shadow was able to travel
far beyond the line of sight of a launching aircraft
to complete its mission.
The missile's 155-mile range
is what helped Ukraine hit this bridge,
more than 100 miles from the front lines,
which Russian troops have relied on for supplies
into the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
But the missile strength is not just its range,
its pre-programmed targeting is also highly precise.
- It is what we call a fire-and-forget.
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Once you pre-program it, and you launch it,
it doesn't require any updates
or communication from the operator.
- [Narrator] Compared to unguided artillery
or rockets that may target a general area, like an air base,
the target for a Storm Shadow can be as precise
as a specific hangar of that air base.
This is possible because the missile is equipped
with three different types of navigation:
INS, GPS, and terrain contour matching.
The inertial navigation system
is a collection of onboard motion sensors
that tracks the orientation and velocity of the missile,
calculating its location without satellites.
But errors can creep into the system with longer missions,
so the Storm Shadow also gets periodic GPS updates.
- Obviously the most accurate way to do it,
would be if you just had the missile hooked up to GPS,
live streaming and constantly getting updates.
- [Narrator] But GPS can make
the missile vulnerable to counterattacks, so...
- That's dangerous to do in a combat environment,
because you have electronic warfare countermeasures.
In some cases they can spoof a GPS signal,
so make it and tell it, it's somewhere where it's not.
- [Narrator] The third type is terrain contour matching.
Using an altimeter to help establish its location,
the Storm Shadow measures changes
in the elevation of the terrain below it,
and compares it to its onboard database.
All the while the missile is flying
at terrain-hugging altitude,
one of many features helping
the Storm Shadow evade radar detection,
making it difficult to shoot down.
- When something is flying high,
you can see it from a long way away.
If something is flying very low,
it becomes hard to see,
because you don't have a clear line of sight.
- [Narrator] Experts say the Storm Shadow
also appears to be outfitted
with additional countermeasures
that make it even harder to intercept,
though the exact type isn't publicly disclosed.
- In general, missiles countermeasures can include things
like, infrared decoys, right, flares, right,
things that will divert
an infrared-seeking interceptor missile.
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- [Narrator] Once the missile identifies
and strikes its target,
experts say the Storm Shadows impact
is comparably more lethal against hardened targets
because of a feature called delayed detonation.
As the missile strikes its target,
an initial smaller charge will detonate,
pushing through walls or reinforcement.
This will allow the main warhead
to penetrate deep inside the target.
Only then will that main warhead detonate.
The delay is often milliseconds difference,
but even that small amount of time,
allows for devastating effects.
Think of it like this.
- If you have a firecracker on your hand,
and you light it, and it explodes,
you know, you'll end up with a nasty burn on your hand.
If you close that firecracker
around your fist, and it explodes,
you'll probably lose your hand.
- These capabilities, range, precision, and lethal impact,
have allowed Ukrainian forces
to strike buildings across occupied parts of Ukraine.
One attack tied to the Storm Shadow
was reportedly able to hit a hotel
about 95 miles behind the front lines,
killing a Russian general, Lieutenant General Tsokov.
This attack in June,
marks the highest ranking casualty among Russian forces.
- So we can see the precision of the weapon at work there,
being able to hit the specific part
of the building that you want to hit
to even go after targets as specific as individuals.
- But the estimated cost of a Storm Shadow
is more than $1 million per unit,
one of the most expensive strike munitions
that Ukraine currently possesses.
All of these features
require high-end, expensive technology.
So in many ways...
- It has more in common with building an iPhone,
than it does an artillery shell.
- And that cost leads
to one of the biggest limitations Ukraine has
with the Storm Shadow, its number of units.
Britain hasn't released the number
of Storm Shadows sent.
Before the war,
defense intelligence companies estimated
that the UK had roughly 822 Storm Shadows in its arsenal.
Just one example of how shallow the Storm Shadow supply is,
during the 2011 Libya intervention
that brought down Muammar Gaddafi.
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The UK and France ran out of precision-guided munitions,
including Storm Shadows.
- Only a small fraction of a already small pile
is going to Ukraine.
- It is broadly understood
that Ukraine has far less Storm Shadows
than HIMARS rockets.
Analysts say Ukraine should be strategic
about how and when to use the Storm Shadows
as a specialized piece of equipment.
- They're not meant for mass bombardments,
like you might see with artillery.
They're precision-surgical battlefield instruments.
They go after high-value targets, time-sensitive targets.
They can't just use them to go blast
some random piece of Russian artillery behind the lines.
- [Narrator] And it's not just the number of missiles.
Because it's an air-launched missile,
Ukraine also needs to take stock of its aircraft supply.
- Ukrainian Air Force started the war
with a little over a hundred combat aircraft,
and only a small portion of these
are Su-24s, capable of firing a Storm Shadow.
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- The Storm Shadow is equipping Ukraine
with a critical capability at an important time
in its counteroffensive.
But the effort is moving slowly.
- Most of the supplies are coming up through here.
So by attacking the corridors
that these supplies move through,
they can slow down and complicate the delivery of munitions.
- [Narrator] William said that
in order for this strategy to be effective,
Ukraine will need more long-range options.
Currently, the UK and France
are the only countries supplying Ukraine
with these types of missiles,
like the Storm Shadow
and the nearly identical SCALP missile.
Germany so far has rejected a Ukrainian request
for its Taurus cruise missiles,
which has an even longer range of nearly 300 miles.
And the Biden administration is still deliberating
whether to send its equivalent weaponry,
the Army Tactical Missile System or ATACMS,
with a range of some 190 miles.
As a truck launched rocket,
the ATACMS offers more opportunities for use.
- It requires a lot less logistical training,
you know, you don't have to support a fighter aircraft,
you don't need bases that can be out in the field.
- [Narrator] Still, these long-range missiles in Ukraine
come with parameters.
When the UK defense secretary announced the country
was supplying the Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine,
he said that the weapons will allow Ukraine
to push back Russian forces
based within Ukraine sovereign territory,
implying a longstanding red line
among the West to avoid targets inside Russia.
But even with just the Storm Shadow,
Ukraine has begun complicating the flow of supplies
from Russia to the front lines.
- The Storm Shadow missile
has had a significant impact
on the battlefield, is my understanding,
its accuracy and its ability to deliver successfully
the payload as sent and designed.
I think the key here is to recognize that
if the Russians move out of range,
we must work together internationally
to make sure that the equipment is given
to make sure they're back in range.
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