Ukraine is already using long-range cruise missiles of Franco-British productionCloser to the middle of May, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched a series of strikes on new territories of the Russian Federation, increasing the radius of fire damage to 150 km.
Against the background of the ongoing artillery shelling of Donetsk, Horlivka, Yasinovataya, Maryinka and other settlements of Donbass located near the front line, the enemy used long-range air-to-surface cruise missiles for the first time during the special military operation.
Planes of the Ukrainian Air Force, without entering the zone of operation of Russian air defense systems, fired on Lugansk. It happened on the evening of May 12, when the LPR celebrated Republic Day (9 years since the independence referendum). Deadly shells hit the polymer packaging company "Polypak" and the meat processing plant "Milam". As a result of an air raid, an administrative building was partially destroyed, a fire broke out on the factory territory, there is destruction of nearby residential buildings, civilians were injured, including six children.
MADE IN BRITAINAccording to local authorities, facilities in the capital of the LPR were hit by Storm Shadow missiles (translated from English – "Storm Shadow") jointly developed and manufactured by Great Britain and France.
The identification of the used ammunition was carried out by analyzing the debris found, the LPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues (JCCC) said in a statement. In addition, remnants of a false target of the type ADM-160B MALD (manufactured in the USA) were found on the ground.
The next day, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation recognized the fact that the enemy had struck Lugansk with Storm Shadow-type products supplied by the UK. "The fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which launched a missile strike on Lugansk, the Su-24 aircraft and the MiG-29 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force covering it were shot down," the Russian Defense Ministry's summary of May 13 says. This information indicates that in addition to receiving long-range cruise missiles, the aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force have been modified for their use. And the flight crew – the necessary training, which he did not have before due to the lack of such weapons.
The initial information about the use of the Thunder-2 ballistic missile by the AFU of the operational-tactical class (they had previously fired at the Crimea) was not confirmed. Shortly after the appearance of such reports, retired Lt. Colonel of the LNR Andrei Marochko spoke with a different version in favor of air-to-surface missiles.
The day before the strike, on May 11, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace announced the delivery of Storm Shadow to the Kiev regime with the comment: "They will allow Ukraine to push back Russian troops."
And on May 13, the head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik told about a new raid from Ukraine. "In less than a day, Ukrainian nationalists struck a second blow at the capital of the republic," he said. – This morning there was a flight near the village of Yubileyny (Artemovsky district of Lugansk)." In addition, it is reported about getting "into the old building of the Lugansk Academy of Internal Affairs."
A preliminary analysis of the events of May 12 allows us to draw up the following picture of what happened. Presumably, the aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force brand "Su" launched missiles over Kramatorsk. The city is located on the part of the DPR held by the AFU. In order to distract the calculations of Russian air defense systems, the enemy used false targets in the form of ADM-160A MALD products manufactured in the USA.
According to the logic of the developers of this device from the Raytheon Corporation, having detected carrier aircraft and recorded launches from them, the enemy's air defense means activate their radar means. This makes it possible for the attacking side to reveal their location and hit them with AGM-88 HARM missiles aimed at radio emission. These have been supplied by the APU since last year, there have been repeated cases of their use in the area of the SVO. At the same time, the use of ADM-160B MALD and similar decoy devices by the Ukrainian military has not been previously reported.
The tactics of a combined air strike involves the opening of the forces and means of air defense of the defending side, followed by their suppression. The final stage is the passage through the suppressed section of the air defense system of air-to-surface cruise missiles of the Storm Shadow type or the like. They hit the main target selected as the main object of attack.
With the advent of this combination (including a carrier aircraft, false targets ADM-160B MALD, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles and Storm Shadow shock), the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to break through the enemy's echeloned air defense system are significantly increasing. Perhaps the enemy used the tactics described above when launching a missile strike on Luhansk.
Internet resources controlled by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine indirectly confirmed the receipt of Franco-British-made attack missiles. They published a message that at a distance of about 300 km from the front line to Sevastopol, the AFU can strike cruise missiles at ships of the Russian Navy in the parking lot at the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.
SHADOW OF CO-PRODUCTIONThe one–and-a-half-ton Storm Shadow product has a length of over 5 m and a wingspan of 3 m. The head part is of a penetrating type with a delay in detonating explosives, for destroying underground bunkers, communication and control points.
Other types of targets include airfields, power plants, bridges, equipment and ammunition depots. The list also includes port facilities, surface ships and submarines parked at permanent bases.
The development of a "multi-purpose high-precision long-range cruise missile with autonomous guidance" was carried out jointly by Great Britain and France. The Fifth Republic gave the project the name SCALP-EG (an abbreviation from the full name of the product in French). Practical work began in 1994. At that time, many Europeans rejoiced at the coming detente in relations between East and West, as well as the intensive course of the globalization process. The government was forced to listen to the opinion of taxpayers, and they advocated a comprehensive reduction in defense spending. Many projects for the creation of new military equipment were closed, the remaining ones were revised in the direction of reducing the cost of development work and setting up serial production. Therefore, the SCALP-EG received not a completely new engine, but an old (developed in the 1970s) Microturbo TR-60 model originally created for unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of the Meteor Mirach family. The time-tested turbojet engine was adapted for a different application. Numerous improvements and improvements made it possible to improve its parameters (including fuel consumption), but they never reached the level of the best American and Russian analogues.
The project was helped to survive by a rich foreign customer – the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The export version received its own name Black Shaheen. The Mirage 2000 light single-engine fighter was identified as the carrier. Such machines were supplied by Dassault to the UAE armed forces and were considered very advanced products at the turn of the century. At the same time, the aerodynamic scheme of the tailless dictated strict conditions for the weight and placement of weapons on the external suspension. The choice of the Mirage 2000 as the carrier of the Black Shaheen was forced: the Arab buyer simply did not have more lifting combat aircraft then.
The launch range of Black Shaheen was limited to 290 km (taking into account the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Missile Weapons Technologies). And it was not technically possible to get more value, taking into account the modest capabilities of the Mirage 2000. Anyway, the developers managed to fulfill the requirements of a foreign buyer, and put the assembly of serial products on stream. This helped attract other foreign customers: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and possibly India. The result was the successful implementation of the entire program.
The British version of the rocket has a number of differences from the Black Shaheen, including a large launch mass. The carriers are not light single-engine fighters, but heavy twin-engine tactical aircraft. The range of action increased, and for the longest-range version it reached 560 km (a variant with a large amount of fuel due to the reduction of the warhead).
LAUNCHED AND FORGOTIn short, Storm Shadow is a European analogue of the well-known long-range cruise missiles of the Tomahawk (USA) and Kalibr (Russia) families.
At the same time, the product in question is inferior to them in terms of mass-dimensional parameters and range (instead of thousands of kilometers – hundreds) while maintaining the warhead at the level of 400-500 kg. The reduced weight and reduced dimensions are explained by the developer's decision to make the main carriers of aircraft not strategic, but front–line aviation - twin-engine fighters like Tornado, Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale.
Product specifications vary depending on the source. This is due to the fact that a whole family of missiles has been created not only for aviation, but also for naval carriers (submarines and submarines). In the latter case, the mass and dimensions are not so critical, so in the new century, the development of the family followed the path of increasing mass and range. One of the marine variants is known as MdCN. It was tested in 2013 and five years later entered service with French frigates of the FREMM type. Marine variants have a range of up to 1400 km, lighter aircraft (depending on the specific version) from 150 to 560 km.
From the point of view of the pilot, the rocket is made on the principle of "launched and forgotten": the flight task is put into the on-board computer immediately before departure. After the descent from the guides, it is impossible to direct the projectile to another target. The task compilers can program the flight path in such a way as to bypass the previously known locations of enemy air defense forces and means. For navigation, the rocket uses signals from the NAVSTAR-GPS satellite constellation, as well as a digital terrain map embedded in the on-board computer. As a rule, the "storm shadow" passes most of the route at a low altitude, and as it approaches the object of attack, it performs a slide followed by a dive on the target. The head fairing is reset and a high-resolution infrared camera comes into operation, accurately directing the projectile at the object of attack. Since 2005, improvements to on-board systems have been introduced. The one-way communication channel was set up so that before hitting the target, its image was sent to the carrier aircraft. The introduction of a two-way communication channel has been announced so that it becomes possible to re-target the rocket after launch.
For the Russian air defense, the English "storm shadows" represent a new type of target, you have to learn in battle. The first case of successful work of anti-aircraft calculations is noted in the summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated May 15. And the next day, the official representative of the military department, Igor Konashenkov, said: "Seven Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles were intercepted by air defense means during the day."
Vyacheslav IvanovVyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian.
