The Storm Shadow cruise missile, jointly produced by France and Great Britain, is now in the arsenal of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
The corresponding launch video was published by the Ukrainian Air Force on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
What is known about the Storm Shadow missiles (SCALP), what advantages do they give the Ukrainian army over the enemy — see in the material.
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Storm Shadow: what is known
Military expert Alexander Kovalenko notes that Storm Shadow is an air-launched cruise missile that can also be used from surface platforms.
Great Britain is the largest user of these missiles.
Storm Shadow carriers are the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Mirage 2000, Dassault Rafale and other combat aircraft.
According to him, none of these models are in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but it is important to understand that these are all light fighters – analogues of the MiG-29.
Storm Shadow: when it was developed
Storm Shadow/SCALP is a missile produced by MBDA (joint Anglo-French development). The first successful firings took place in 2000 in France.
Storm Shadow can be used at any time of day, as well as in adverse weather conditions and when the enemy uses electronic countermeasures.
The Storm Shadow missile was first used in 2003 in Iraq by the British Army.
Storm Shadow: missile specifications
- weight: 1,300 kg;
- length: 5.1 m;
- diameter: 0.5 m;
- warhead: 450 kg, BROACH type;
- range: over 250 km;
- flight altitude: 30-40 m;
- speed: 0.8 M (about 1 thousand km/h).
With the help of Storm Shadow, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to hold Crimea and the Kerch Bridge under complete fire control, said military observer Denis Popovich.
— Hypothetically, we can assume that we have received missiles with a range of up to 300 km. Let's take some positions of the Ukrainian army near Kherson. There, in a straight line to Crimea, it's about 80-90 kilometers. Here we have 300 km, you can imagine where this missile can reach, – Popovich said.
Launch of Storm Shadow — Air Force showed video
In August 2024, the Ukrainian Air Force showed the launch of this missile from a Su-24 frontline bomber for the first time.
Screen: Ukrainian Forces
In particular, it was filmed how the drops are carried out from a height of close to 500 meters at subsonic speed, while the Su-24s do not perform an anti-aircraft maneuver with a turn and retreat on afterburner.
Storm Shadow for Ukraine — Britain's position
Answering questions from a Bloomberg journalist during a trip to the NATO summit in Washington, Keir Starmer pointed out that Ukraine itself chooses targets for Storm Shadow strikes.
— Ukraine must decide for itself how to use them for defensive purposes, he stressed.
At the same time, the head of the British government noted that the missile must be used in strict accordance with international humanitarian law, which clearly regulates strikes exclusively on enemy military targets.
How many of these missiles are needed to destroy the Crimean Bridge
The Storm Shadow missile can penetrate enemy air defenses. According to preliminary calculations, about 10 of these missiles will be able to interrupt Russian communications via the bridge across the Kerch Strait, said Defense Express military expert Valery Ryabykh.
Screen: Povitryani Sili Ukraine
The Storm Shadow topic has been circulating in the information space for a long time, and first appeared on November 4 last year with an emphasis on the possibility of transferring these missiles to Ukraine.
— At the same time, it was reported that Storm Shadow could be adapted to post-Soviet aircraft, in particular, the Su-25, and then used against military targets of the occupiers, the expert said.
According to him, this missile is super-powerful with a total weight of up to 1.4 thousand kg, has a warhead filled with 460 kg of explosive, is capable of passing enemy air defenses by passing sections at an extremely low altitude and has certain means for overcoming electronic warfare systems.
He noted that this is a very accurate missile that uses a ground-based correction system for its route, and at the last section, Storm Shadow drops the cap from the warhead and aims at the target using optical-electronic system.
– The first target for Storm Shadow could be, for example, the Kerch Bridge. It might take about a dozen missiles to interrupt communications across this bridge. Considering that this missile can penetrate enemy air defenses, the Kerch Bridge doesn’t have much of a chance, as do other occupier facilities, the military analyst said.
