Tuesday, April 2, 2024

UK sending long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, says defence minister Defence policy

storm shadow cruise missile

But in some strikes, they appear to have been launched alongside waves of Ukrainian kamikaze drones to increase the chances of success. It was rushed into service in time for the Gulf War, where it was found to be so accurate that in one attack, a Storm Shadow reportedly punched a hole in the side of a building and then another one followed through the same hole. On July 11, a senior Russian general, Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov, was reported killed when Storm Shadows hit a hotel housing Russian commanders in Berdyansk, on Ukraine's occupied southern coast. 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.

Operation in Ukraine has been "very difficult," Kremlin says

It’s unclear whether Ukraine has received fully capable Storm Shadows, or a reduced range model so as to adhere to the MTCR arms control regime, which ordinarily discouraged export of missiles with a range exceeding 190 miles. In the fighting around Kherson during Ukraine's counteroffensive last fall, Russia sustained and eventually withdrew its forces using one bridge and a ferry system. "You'd be surprised how many forces can be sustained with a fairly narrow pipeline when it comes to ground lines of communication," Kofman said. The Storm Shadow is also in service with the air forces of Egypt, India, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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

With an extensive front like that in Ukraine, it's impossible for the Russian military "to not have ammo stored anywhere, or to not have vulnerabilities in command-and-control, or to not have to use bridges," Kofman said. "But you're not seeing nearly the amount of critical infrastructure strikes or strikes against the logistics command-and-control network that you saw when HIMARS was first introduced last summer." There have been concerns that the Storm Shadow missiles could be used to strike targets deep inside Russia’s internationally recognised borders. The White House has balked at supplying Ukraine with similar long-range ATACMS missiles, which can be fitted to the Himars systems. The Ukrainian air force had carried out several strikes, it said, including against a Russian electronic warfare unit.

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

A look at the Storm Shadow cruise missile Great Britain has announced it will provide Ukraine. The Ukrainian military says its troops are conducting "effective counterattacks" in the Bakhmut area after they inflicted "huge losses" on Russian forces Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would take an “appropriate” military response to any Storm Shadow missiles used by Ukraine. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the missiles would give Ukrainians the “best chance to defend themselves” as Russia continues its “deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, which is against international law”. "If we could strike at a distance of up to 300 kilometres, the Russian army wouldn't be able to provide defence and will have to lose," he told an EU meeting.

The following Monday, the Russian MoD claimed to have downed one of the missiles elsewhere in Ukraine. After a year of struggling with the range of its artillery and missiles in its bid to fend off Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s military is getting a longer reach with the British announcement that it will supply Storm Shadow cruise missiles to the embattled country. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Missile Defense Project reports its actual range to be 400 km. 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.

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As CNN has reported, Ukraine's current maximum range on US-provided weapons is around 49 miles. Due to Storm Shadow’s considerable range, Ukrainian jets could release the missile from relatively safe airspace. That said, to delay/avoid detection by Russian ground-based radars and attack from an unpredictable angle, Ukraine may opt for launch from low altitude—even if that reduces the maximum range and requires getting closer. There may therefore still be some need to dodge patrolling Russian MiG-31 interceptors, and Su-35 fighters scanning from above and primed to launch very-long-range R-37M missile.

storm shadow cruise missile

It employs imaging infrared seeker to compare the actual target area with stored imagery repeatedly until reaching the target. The Storm Shadow / SCALP is a long-range, air-launched, stand-off attack missile offered by France-based MBDA Systems primarily for the UK and French armed forces. The Storm Shadow's BROACH warhead features an initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay fuze to control detonation of the main warhead. Intended targets are command, control and communications centres; airfields; ports and power stations; ammunition management and storage facilities; surface ships and submarines in port; bridges and other high value strategic targets.

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There have been reports of successful Storm Shadow strikes in the weeks since the attack on the Chonhar bridge, including the killing of a senior Russian commander and an attack on a Russian vehicle-repair depot in Crimea. Garton Ash lays out the warmongering rationale behind delivering long-range missiles—unlocking the potential of Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive, a bloodbath in the making. The navigation system of the missile includes inertial navigation (INS), global positioning system (GPS) and terrain reference navigation for better control over the path and accurate target strike. The Storm Shadow missile is designed to strike the targets with an enhanced accuracy, employing different navigation systems installed onboard. In February 2017, MBDA led the mid-life refurbishment of Storm Shadow / SCALP EG cruise missiles for the UK and French Ministries of Defence.

Storm Shadow / SCALP Long-Range, Air-Launched, Stand-Off Attack Missile

And while a Storm Shadow can go further and has a much larger warhead than a GMRL rocket, it’s also 4-5 times more expensive, so Ukraine will receive a far smaller number. That means each shot will have to count, and there won’t be an indefinite resupply of missiles, making avoiding interception even more pertinent. Western governments might see whether Middle Eastern Storm Shadow clients (Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) are amenable to quietly selling back missiles in exchange for newly-built replacements later. Those sold to the Middle East are believed to be a downgraded variant with 180-mile range sometimes dubbed the Black Shaheen—still potentially useful for Ukraine’s purposes.

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. The armor-penetrating precursor blasts a hole into the target’s surface, allowing the larger main charge to pass inside the targeted structure before detonating—making BROACH effective against hardened targets like underground storage facilities and bunkers. But the real bullseye falls on Russia’s extensive military infrastructure on the Crimean Peninsula, including airbases and much of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Russia had leased bases in that area from Ukraine for two decades, only for Putin to invade the entire peninsula in 2014. 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."

Storm Shadow was successfully fired from the RAF’s Tornado GR4 aircraft during Operation Telic in 2003. 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. The missile is intended to strike high-valued stationary assets such as airbases, radar installations, communications hubs and port facilities. The Storm Shadow can engage the targets precisely in any weather conditions during day and night. The long range and low attitude combined with subsonic speed make the Storm Shadow a stealthy missile.

On Thursday morning, British defense secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons that the U.K. Had broken the long-range taboo by transferring “a number” of Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, seen as a “proportionate response” to Russia’s sustained air attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. Storm Shadow is officially advertised as having a range “exceeding 250km,” or 155 miles, with other figures (including some given by the president of France) suggesting it has a maximum range of 250, or even 350, miles.

Although the missiles are considered a category 1 weapon, and so there is a “strong presumption” that they will not be exported to other countries, officials pointed to the fact that an exception can be made “on rare occasions” where there is a demonstrable need. Ukraine has been gradually amassing western tanks and armoured vehicles as it seeks to build up a counterattack force of 12 brigades aimed at breaking through Russian lines and demonstrating that it could be possible for Kyiv to push the invaders out of the country. Although the White House said last month it would supply a cluster-munition version of ATACMs, it is not yet clear when they will be delivered. Hitting deeper against bigger logistics hubs and command points is now key to success for Ukraine, Mr Zagorodnyuk said. But Moscow quickly moved targets further back out of reach, and since then the front lines have been largely frozen.

Kyiv has most likely only received a few hundred missiles, and the aircraft launching them are vulnerable in the highly contested airspace over Ukraine. That raises questions about whether Ukraine's military can bring enough Storm Shadows to bear against targets that are hard to find or knock out. The Storm Shadow missile is programmed with every detail of the target and the path to be taken to reach the target prior to its launch. Once released from the aircraft, the missile follows a pre-programmed path at low level with the help of continuous updates from the onboard navigation system.

Russia has said it has shot down many missiles, but the claims have not been verified and overall Ukraine appears to be having a high degree of success. As well as being used by the RAF and the French, the missile is also in service with Italy, Greece, Egypt, India, Qatar and others. 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. Two drones detonated and fell over a residential area in the region, Gladkov said. No casualties were reported, but two residential buildings and a car were damaged, he added. 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 UK will send more Storm Shadow long-range missiles to Ukraine as part of its single biggest military aid package to the country since Russia’s invasion, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. Overall, Storm Shadow is a potent long-distance strike weapon Ukraine will have to employ judiciously for maximum effect—though even the likely modest number transferred to Ukraine will likely to cause anxiety to Russian logisticians, commanders, and air defense personnel. 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. On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) had issued a call to weapons manufacturers, on behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), to supply missiles capable of striking Russian-annexed Crimea or cities deep inside Russia’s borders. Over £300 million in funding has been made available through donations from the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, plus Iceland and Lithuania. The missile is fitted with a two-stage bomb royal ordnance augmented charge (BROACH) blast/ penetrator warhead.

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