How the Storm Shadow missile maker launched a new model of defence co-operation

Table Of Content

• Watch: Ukraine says it shot down 6 hypersonic missiles over Kyiv during 'exceptional' night of attacks
• X-65 CRANE Demonstrator Aircraft, US
• What is a Storm Shadow missile? Who makes the cruise missiles and why the UK is sending them to Ukraine
• Storm Shadow: Ukraine’s newest weapon to defend against Russia’s invasion
• Western Missiles on Soviet Warbirds
• The U.K. Has Given Ukraine the Storm Shadow: A Western Missile on a Soviet Warbird
• Stay up-to-date with missile defense

Joint venture built by European missile-maker MBDA and based on the Apache runway-cratering missile. It and Germany’s KEPD-350 air-launched cruise missile are the most numerous European-built equivalents to the U.S.’s arsenal of Tomahawk land-attack missiles, which have much longer range and are primarily (but not exclusively) sea-launched. The missile is "a real game changer from a range perspective," a senior US military official told CNN and gives Kyiv a capability it has been requesting since the outset of the war. As CNN has reported, Ukraine's current maximum range on US-provided weapons is around 49 miles. Barros said the implication is that Russia's tactic "will be reduced even further" because it will require the Russians to undertake even more stringent sustainment and protection measures to avoid the missile's long range. This means pushing ammunition depots and command and control efforts even deeper into occupied territory and away from the front lines.

Watch: Ukraine says it shot down 6 hypersonic missiles over Kyiv during 'exceptional' night of attacks

Ukraine’s promise not to strike Russian soil with Western-supplied missiles could also inspire a false flag attack making it appear it has done so—a well-established tactic in Putin’s playbook. As Ukraine is sporadically attacking targets in Russia (mainly airbases, oil depots and electrical infrastructure) using agents and domestically-built drones and missiles, there could be grounds for confusion and misinformation. The Ukrainian air force had carried out several strikes, it said, including against a Russian electronic warfare unit. The Ukrainians appear to be trying to disrupt both Russian military communications and electronic warfare capabilities ahead of a counteroffensive. Another drone was shot down by Russian air defense systems over the region, Gladkov said. The governor said there were no casualties and that response teams are assessing the aftermath on the ground.

X-65 CRANE Demonstrator Aircraft, US

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The Storm Shadow cruise missile has a range of over 250km (155 miles), according to the manufacturer. Fortunately for Ukraine, Storm Shadow donations are more likely to be scalable than the UK’s rare Challenger 2 tanks, as the missiles are also in France’s inventory—under the designation SCALP-EG—and Italy’s. The Storm Shadow missile is designed to strike the targets with an enhanced accuracy, employing different navigation systems installed onboard. The Storm Shadow can be integrated into Tornado GR4, Tornado IDS, Saab Gripen, Mirage 2000, Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. In March 2021, the missile was launched by UK Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon for the first time on operations against the Islamic State in Iraq.

What is a Storm Shadow missile? Who makes the cruise missiles and why the UK is sending them to Ukraine

The Brimstone 1 missiles are typically used for firing on tanks, artillery units and landing craft and typically shot from aircraft, although they are being shot in Ukraine from modified trucks. This is a mixture of next-generation light anti-tank weapons, which have a range of up to 600 metres and weigh just 12.5 kilograms and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which have double the range but are twice as heavy. Like so many weapon systems, the Storm Shadow and its variants have seen operational use in Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Storm Shadow is 5.1 meters (16’ 8”) long, weighs 1,300 kilograms (2,860 lbs.), and carries a 400 kg. (880 lb.) high explosive Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge (BROACH) warhead from BAE Systems.

Storm Shadow: Ukraine’s newest weapon to defend against Russia’s invasion

As Ukraine will not have nearly as many cruise missiles available, Adel suggested Ukraine might instead launch concerted attacks with drones and SDB glide bombs (both ground- and air-launched) supported by electronic warfare systems to confuse and overwhelm Russian air defenses. The United Kingdom has supplied Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles, giving Ukrainian forces a new long-range strike capability in advance of a highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, multiple senior Western officials told CNN. As the country prepares to launch a counteroffensive, those demands have become more urgent.

Western Missiles on Soviet Warbirds

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In May, the government announced that it would provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, which are a long-range precision strike capability. The UK is the first country to provide Ukraine with missiles with a range sufficient to strike targets anywhere in the country. Following a visit to Kyiv by the prime minister, Downing Street also confirmed on April 9 that the UK would provide Ukraine with 120 armoured vehicles and new Harpoon anti-ship missile systems.

The U.K. Has Given Ukraine the Storm Shadow: A Western Missile on a Soviet Warbird

During a visit to Kyiv on 19 November, the prime minister announced “a major new package” of air defence support. The UK will provide 125 anti-aircraft guns and counter-drone technology, including radars and anti-drone electronic warfare capability. The delivery of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine comes as the country gears up for its highly anticipated counteroffensive, which is expected to be aimed at liberating occupied territory in the eastern and southern regions. While there are speculations over when the offensive will actually begin, Kyiv's forces have enjoyed some recent territorial gains through counterattacks around the war-torn city of Bakhmut, where intense and brutal fighting has raged for months.

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CNN reported that the UK has been assured by Kyiv that it will only be used to fire into territory Ukraine has lost rather than what has only been Russian. The aid came in advance of Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the UK with the Ukraine president having appealed for western help in a bid to withstand Russian offenses and push back.

In February, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was prepared to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, and the British government opened a bidding process for their procurement. And this time, those depots and command centers might have to relocate all the way to Russian soil to escape the Storm Shadow’s reach. That could especially threaten Russian forces in southern Ukraine, most distant from the Russian border. Theoretically, Ukraine could also cobble together means to ground-launch Storm Shadows, accepting a significantly reduced range.

But because Storm Shadows don’t require fire control instructions from the launching fighter, they should be comparatively easy to add onto the Ukrainian Air Force’s Soviet warplanes. Wallace stated that the Storm Shadows were supplied with assurances from Ukraine that they would only be used for strikes on Russian-occupied parts of the country, such as logistical centers in Starobilsk and Melitopol. The CSIS Missile Defense Project’s monthly newsletter has info on the project’s latest publications, events, and missile defense news. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) placed a €1.13bn contract with MBDA Systems for the development and production of the Storm Shadow long range missile in 1997. The programme was intended to meet the conventionally armed stand-off missile (CASOM) requirement of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF). But since Ukraine began using the missiles in mid-May, "we've not seen tremendous impact on the Russian force," Kofman said, "and part the reason for that is the adaptations in the Russian military that were caused by the introduction of HIMARS last June."

A recent strike in the eastern Luhansk region has reportedly been linked to the new missiles. Ukraine's military just got its hands on Storm Shadow missiles from the UK, and it is already making good use of the newly acquired weapon that significantly boosts Kyiv's long-range strike capabilities. After they are launched the missiles descend to a lower altitude to avoid radar detection, and hone in on their target using an infrared seeker. Manufacturer MBDA says the Storm Shadow missile has a range in excess 150 miles – three times further than US-supplied Himars missiles that are currently being used by Ukraine, which have a 50-mile range.

The aircraft that have delivered the Storm Shadow so far include the Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, Mirage 2000, and Tornado, so it will apparently add a new aircraft type after been adapted to planes in the Ukrainian inventory. The Russian offensive is concentrated in four different parts of the Donetsk region, with the "fiercest battles" in the cities of Bakhmut and Mariinka, according to the Ukrainian military's General Staff. Ukraine’s military said Wednesday that Russian soldiers prevented Ukrainian employees of the occupied plant from evacuating Enerhodar – a nearby frontline town – with their families. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said on Thursday that Russia looks “negatively” at the new weapon’s delivery. He said it would “require an adequate response from our servicemen,” but gave no details. He said the missiles were "going into" or already in Ukrainian hands, and described the move as "calibrated and proportionate to Russia's escalations".

UK officials have made frequent public statements identifying Crimea as Ukrainian sovereign territory, describing it as "illegally annexed." The new missiles may be able to reach those cities, and they might also enable Ukraine to strike military targets in Crimea, a region even further behind Russian lines, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Britain is donating long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine to help it reclaim territory lost to Russia since the start of its invasion, Britain’s defense secretary, Ben Wallace, told Parliament on Thursday.