The UK has provided the Ukrainian Air Force (Povitryani Syly Ukrayiny – PSU) with Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles ahead of an expected counter-offensive by the Ukrainian military against Russian forces invading eastern Ukraine.
Announcing the delivery in the UK House of Commons on May 11, 2023, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said it was in response to Russian aggression and attacks on Ukrainian civilians, in violation of international law, and that the missiles " into the hands of Ukraine” or would already be in Ukrainian hands.
“What I can say is that throughout this process we always make sure that we have examined how to avoid or minimize escalation and unnecessary provocation by Russia. This is not our business, we want to help Ukraine defend itself on its sovereign territory," Wallace said.
No deep space capabilities would be required if Russia were to withdraw its forces across the border into Russia, he continued. "But of course that's why, for example, Ukraine is looking for long-range capabilities because Russia has penetrated so deeply into another country."
When asked, Wallace declined to give details of the Ukrainian aircraft into which the Storm Shadow was integrated, although they are likely to be the PSU's MiG-29. Ukraine had this type in service before the Russian invasion in February 2022 (alongside the Sukhoi Su-27, Su-24 and Su-25). On March 16, 2023, Poland announced it would be donating “a good dozen” MiG-29s to Ukraine, while the following day Slovakia became the second nation to donate fighter jets to Ukraine and announced it would be handing over a similar number of MiG-29s to Kiev.
Alluding to the integration work required to enable the PSU to deploy Storm Shadow, Wallace remarked: "It is of course not easy to fit a British/French missile into a former Soviet or Russian aircraft. That was one of the reasons it took us so long - to find out if it's technically feasible - and I want to pay tribute to our scientists and engineers who did a great job.”
Storm Shadow/SCALP is an Anglo-French long-range missile developed in the 1990s and first used by Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It is also integrated into the French Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft, as well as a number of export customers using the Tornado, Mirage 2000 and Rafale.
The missile was integrated into the Eurofighter Typhoon in 2015 as part of the Phase 2 improvement program and was deployed for the first time in March 2021 against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq. However, it will not be integrated into the RAF's fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
The 5.1 m long Storm Shadow is powered by a turbojet engine and is controlled by an INS, GPS and terrain reference navigation system. It is armed with an explosive/penetrator warhead capable of a range of over 250km.
This would allow Ukrainian Air Force planes to attack targets far beyond occupied eastern Ukraine from their own airspace, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has always emphasized that his forces are concentrating on fighting the Russians on Ukrainian soil.
Peter Felsted