The UK may supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles The British Ministry of Defense is considering the possibility of transferring air-launched cruise missiles of the Storm Shadow/SCALP type to the armed forces of Ukraine.
Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok explains how these missiles are superior to American ATACMS and what is required to protect against them.
British Armed Forces Minister James Hippy recently said that despite possible risks, London will continue to support the Armed Forces with an "appropriate and balanced set of military means" to help Ukraine "protect its sovereign territory."
"The UK will analyze the support provided to Ukraine and does not exclude the possibility of providing longer-range weapons systems," Hippy stressed.
As the newspaper wrote earlier.Ru", CRVS of this type are a joint Anglo-French development and are produced by the European consortium MBDA (Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia).
The French version of the missile is designated by the abbreviation SCALP EG, which stands for multi-purpose high-precision long-range cruise missile with autonomous guidance. The product is equipped with a warhead weighing 450 kg, the firing range of Storm Shadow exceeds 250 km, the flight altitude is 30-40 m, and the rocket speed reaches 0.8-0.95 M (approximately 1000 km / h).
The use of Storm Shadow in military conflicts has been recorded since 2003. During the fighting, the missile demonstrated high efficiency.
The firing range of Storm Shadow /SCALP varies in various publications and reference books. In some sources it is given as over 250 km, in others - 300 nautical miles (550 km). There is also a possibility that the manufacturer keeps the true firing range secret. It is quite possible that it significantly exceeds 550 km. In this case, the Moscow region will be in the zone of its defeat.
The Ukrainian Air Forces can use the Su-24M front-line bomber as the Storm Shadow carrier aircraft. Poland has already promised the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to adapt Ukrainian aircraft of this type for the combat use of the Storm Shadow/SCALP missile defense system in the shortest possible time. The principle of guidance of the "Storm Shadow" is "shot and forgot".
The intended targets for Storm Shadow are command posts, communication centers, ammunition depots, ships at anchorages, infrastructure facilities (bridge crossings, railway junctions, unloading stations). The cost of the Storm Shadow rocket is €850 thousand.
As for possible Russian responses to the supply of "Storm Shadows" for Ukraine, first of all, we should take into account the fact that until 1991 the territories of the Leningrad, Moscow and North Caucasus military districts were considered purely rear areas. Developed fighter and anti-aircraft missile cover systems were possessed only by both capitals (but even then they suffered significant damage as a result of the destructive organizational and staff measures of the 1990s). However, after the collapse of the USSR, the internal military districts suddenly turned out to be borderline, in the first strategic echelon, and today there are clearly not enough forces and means to effectively repel the air attacks of a likely enemy, it must be said bluntly.
And in this regard, the combat strength of radio engineering, anti-aircraft missile forces and fighter aircraft deployed in these regions needs to be significantly strengthened (quite possibly even at times). For example, the lower limit of the radar field required for the detection and wireless wiring of the Storm Shadow KRVB throughout the entire western border of Russia should be 60-100 meters. This alone requires a radical increase in the number of radar companies and battalions of radio engineering troops and changes in their deployment.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that the supply of weapons to Ukraine by the alliance countries will quickly lead to a truce. "It may sound like a paradox, but military support for Ukraine is the shortest path to peace," the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance believes. According to the NATO Secretary General, Moscow must understand that it will not be able to achieve its goals in Ukraine. After that, the NATO Secretary General believes, peace talks will be possible.
Mikhail Khodarenok
