Can Storm Shadow missiles slow Russia's march on Ukraine?

Long-range strikes indicate that the UK has joined America in giving President Zelensky permission to use the weapons before a change in the White House

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/what-are-storm-shadow-missiles-w622c76xh

https://archive.ph/l7WId



The first launching of the Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missile against targets inside Russia has brought Britain into a more direct confrontation with Moscow. On Tuesday, the Kyiv government wasted no time in launching American-made long-range ATACMS missiles over the border into Russia once President Biden had given his approval, reversing his policy after months of pleading by President Zelensky. The missiles hit a weapons depot in the Bryansk region, 70 miles from the border and 235 miles southwest of the Russian capital. Only hours later, a British-supplied missile was fired towards a similar target.



Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has been careful to avoid confirming whether he, too, had given Zelensky permission to use Storm Shadow in attacks in Russia. But the evidence of long-range strikes indicates that the UK government has followed the switch in policy adopted by Washington. ATACMS (army tactical missile systems) and Storm Shadow (the French version is called Scalp) are two of the most deadly and effective weapons supplied by the US-led 50-nation coalition, which has been arming and supporting the Kyiv government since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. However, it has taken more than 1,000 days for the US and UK to give Zelensky authority to use the weapons in attacks inside Russia. The 155-mile-range cruise missile has been used by Ukraine in numerous attacks against Russian targets in Crimea and in eastern provinces since the weapon was first delivered last year, but always on short-range missions.



Storm Shadow packs a powerful explosive punch with a 990lb warhead designed to penetrate hardened military sites, such as ammunition depots, airbase storage facilities, radar installations and naval ports. In Ukraine, the cruise missile has been carried by the Soviet Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft, but prior to its operational use by the Ukrainian air force, it was supplied to the RAF for Tornado GR4s and Eurofighter Typhoons. It was first launched from a Typhoon on operations against Islamic State in Syria in March 2021, but it was fired from a Tornado GR4 as far back as 2003 in Iraq. Storm Shadow is equipped with “fire-and-forget” technology, with autonomous guidance. It was designed to hit targets with enhanced accuracy, with all the details of the target fed into a computer. Because it is a cruise missile, as opposed to a ballistic one, it is subsonic but can creep up on the target at a low altitude, rising only in the final part of the journey to give maximum penetration power as it plunges downwards close to the speed of sound. It also has stealth technology built in, making it difficult for enemy radars to detect its approach.



Storm Shadow can make a difference on the battlefield because of its accuracy and penetration capabilities. However, the missile is in demand among allies, and Ukraine has been given only limited supplies. This could hamper Kyiv’s hopes of causing significant and long-lasting damage to key military facilities inside Russia. Because the missile is air-launched, it also means that the Ukrainian pilots will have to adopt skilled manoeuvre tactics to evade Russian air-defence systems. Both the US and the UK have given authority for Kyiv to use these two weapon systems to their maximum range. This poses a challenge to Russian air defences.Previously, Russia’s main concern within its own borders was to spot and try to shoot down Ukraine’s long-range drones, which despite becoming increasingly capable have never caused significant damage. Now Russia faces two advanced western weapons that can fly over the border and reach targets spread across a huge area. It has been estimated that about 245 potential military targets could be within reach of ATACMS and Storm Shadow.

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