British Minister of Defense Ben Wallace revealed that the United Kingdom has delivered an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak first raised the prospect in February of supplying Kyiv with longer-range capabilities to reduce pressure on the frontlines. Such capabilities also serve to counter Russia’s ability to target Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.
“We will simply not stand by as Russia kills civilians,” Wallace told parliament, per Reuters. “Russia must recognise that its actions alone have led to such systems being provided to Ukraine.”
According to a report from the Financial Times, the UK has already donated thousands of short- and long-range missiles to Ukraine, along with Challenger 2 main battle tanks, and even vehicles equipped with Starstreak missile launchers.
UK Aiding Ukraine
The supply of Storm Shadow cruise missiles will provide the Ukrainian military with new long-range strike capabilitiy in advance of its highly anticipated counteroffensive.
“The UK has previously said that it will supply Ukraine with long-range weapons, this will now include a number of Storm Shadow missiles. The British Government has been clear that this is only in response to Russia’s deliberate targeting of civilian national infrastructure and is a proportionate response,” a Western official told CNN.
The Coming Storm Shadow
The Storm Shadow, which was developed as a joint Anglo-French initiative, is a low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile that is able to strike strategic and military targets from extended stand-off ranges with great precision. It first entered service in 2002 and is currently operated by nearly a dozen nations around the world.
The missile has a range in excess of 250 km (155 miles), still short of the 185-mile range capability of the U.S.-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which Kyiv has requested. The Storm Shadow will still have the range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in Eastern Ukraine. More important, as it is air-launched, it will enable Ukrainian pilots to operate farther from the frontlines.
In addition, once launched, the Storm Shadow is able to drop to a low altitude, which allows it to avoid detection by enemy radar before it latches onto its target with an infrared seeker. It is a fire-and-forget system, with its target programmed before launch. The missile cannot be controlled in flight, but it can follow a path semi-autonomously guided by GPS.
The missile has a speed of Mach-0.8, and when it closes on its target, the Storm Shadow climbs to an altitude intended to achieve the best probability of target identification and penetration. The missile’s nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high-resolution infrared camera to observe the target area and confirm its target. If it cannot ensure confirmation, or if there is a high risk of collateral damage, it will fly to a crash point instead.
The Storm Shadow might be the platform Ukraine needs to strike high-value Russian targets.
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Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
