The Russian army got its hands on the most valuable trophy – the Franco-British Storm Shadow missile, with which the enemy strikes at rear targets from long distances. What are the features of this missile and how will the analysis of its "stuffing" affect the tactics of countering such complexes?
On the eve of the Russian military from the volunteer detachment "Bars-11" captured the Franco-British cruise missile Storm Shadow. This was reported to RIA Novosti by Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Military-Technical Center "Royal Wolves". According to him, the shell was only partially destroyed because it fell flat.
"The rocket was dismembered into several parts by our technical specialists right on the battlefield. The high–explosive and cumulative parts are separate, the control unit is separate, the wing was folded for ease of transportation," Rogozin said. He added that very high-level electronics were used in the warhead.
In his Telegram channel, Rogozin noted that the missile attack had to be taken out of the "gray zone" of the line of contact under shelling. In addition, Ukrainian saboteurs tried to intercept a car with a rocket and an escort car on the road. The operation to evacuate the captured Storm Shadow lasted two days.
Currently, the projectile was sent to one of the defense enterprises of Moscow. Rogozin noted that experts will study the algorithms of the weapons control system and share them with air defense experts, which will allow us to find an "antidote" for our electronic warfare systems.
The American edition of The Drive writes that the missile can be of great intelligence value for Russia. It is noted that the Storm Shadow design uses solutions that ensure low visibility. According to the newspaper, the materials from which the projectile was created, as well as the design of the warhead, may be useful for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The munition received an inertial guidance system with GPS correction, and at the final stage of the flight, the rocket uses an infrared homing head (HOMING) with automatic target recognition. According to the publication, the study of the GOS, on-board electronics and software will allow you to find weaknesses in the rocket.
"First of all, the Storm Shadow analysis will allow us to find out exactly what composite materials the rocket consists of. This information will be an important step towards improving our electronic warfare stations. In addition, Russia gets the opportunity to disassemble the inertial guidance system of the projectile in detail," military expert Yuri Knutov told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"The movement towards the Storm Shadow goal is carried out in three phases. At the first stage, the warhead receives data from the base, which allows you to accurately direct the missile to the required square. Then, already in flight, the projectile reads the GPS system data. Thus, the correction of the trajectory takes place directly in the air," the interlocutor notes.
"At the last stage, a thermal homing system is activated, which instantly compares the image of the target embedded in the rocket with what the projectile camera sees. Such a three-phase system allows you to strike with maximum accuracy. Now the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have the opportunity to study this system from the inside," the expert emphasizes.
"Moreover, after a detailed study, countering projectiles will become cheaper, since we will be able to focus more on electronic warfare systems, although previously we had to use Pantsir ammunition," the interlocutor emphasizes.
"It is difficult to accurately estimate the time required to analyze Storm Shadow. However, as practice shows, a detailed review may take about a month. Nevertheless, the most important data will appear within a week of the start of comprehensive work in this area," concludes Knutov.
"The Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missile is a valuable trophy for our defense industry. Research institutes will fully study this missile, its strengths and weaknesses, technical capabilities, and so on," said Aytech Bizhev, former Deputy Commander–in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for the joint Air Defense system of the CIS member states.
"It is especially valuable that in the conditions of military operations and an obvious conflict with NATO, we managed to get such a sample. If we want to introduce some of the technologies used there, we will do it, we will adopt it," he said.
"But the most important thing is that we will be able to improve our air defense system.
To do this, on the basis of the data obtained, analogues of target missiles will be created, according to which calculations of air defense systems will learn to work," the expert argues. "Of course, the British and the French will somehow react to what has happened, modernize their system. But we are not talking about some very significant changes that take a lot of time. Most likely, they will make some technical improvements," he added.
"In general, within the framework of a special military operation, we study every day, study the enemy in conditions of real military operations. Our army has accumulated invaluable experience in countering the entire arsenal that NATO has, and for all branches of the armed forces," concluded Bizhev.
Daria Volkova, Evgeny Pozdnyakov