Britain and France Just Surged Ukraine’s Cruise Missile Stockpiles Ready For Major Deep Strikes Into Russia

<p >The United Kingdom and France have made major deliveries of Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG air launched cruise missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with up to 150 of the missiles delivered shortly preceding the granting of approval on November 19 for their use against internationally recognised Russian territory. Multiple European states <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/france-uk-lobbying-deep-missile-strikes" >have long lobbied strongly </a>for unrestricted attacks very deep into Russia, with London and Paris being among the most active in this regard. U.S. resistance to these demands from its more hardline allies was belatedly worn down after the November presidential elections. Although Storm Shadow missiles <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/su27-storm-shadow-shot-down" >began to be used</a> by the Ukrainian Air Force for strikes on Russian forces as early as May 2023, they were restricted to use against targets on territories which the Western world recognised as Ukrainian – namely the disputed Donbas regions and Crimea which are claimed by both Moscow and Kiev. The expansion of missile attacks, which are guided by <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/all-nato-satellite-network-backs-ukraine" target="_blank">vast networks of Western satellites </a>and supported by <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/cia-stealth-network-ukraine-proxy-war-russia" target="_blank">major deployments</a> of Western Bloc advisors and other specialists on the ground, to strike targets across much of Russia, thus represents a major escalation, with the first such attack using cruise missiles having been launched on November 20.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2024/11/27/article_67467d419770a0_19838882.jpg" title="Ukrainian Air Force Su-24M Fighter with British Storm Shadow Missiles"></p><p >The Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG are derivatives of the same jointly developed Anglo-French cruise missile design, and were <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russian-target-missile-depot-intel-mechs">integrated </a>onto Ukraine’s fleet of Soviet built Su-24M strike fighters and Su-27 air superiority fighters from 2023, allowing them to engage targets significantly deeper behind Russian lines. French SCALP missiles are expected to be integrated onto Mirage 2000 fighters, which are scheduled to be <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/france-mirage2000-ukraine-2025" target="_blank">delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force</a> from France in January. Both Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles have been shot down and brought down electronically multiple times by Russian forces, with the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/europe-top-cruise-missile-captured-russia" >capture of the missiles</a> relatively intact thought to have facilitated the development of more effective electronic countermeasures. Western and Ukrainian sources have in the past repeatedly <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russian-electronic-warfare-turning-tide" target="_blank">expressed considerable frustration</a> at the effectiveness of Russian electronic warfare capabilities in <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/ew-russia-advantage-implications" target="_blank">preventing</a> a wide range of guided missile classes from being used effectively in the theatre, with the two European cruise missile classes being among them. Despite Russian defences against cruise missile strikes having proven formidable in the past, however, defending the vast Russian interior from cruise missile attacks will pose a significantly greater challenge than protecting limited frontline positions. </p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2024/11/27/article_67467caf2c84d4_20979304.jpeg" title="Storm Shadow Missile Captured by Russian Forces"></p><p >With Ukraine’s fighter fleet having been seriously depleted, it is expected that alongside Mirage 2000s, F-16 fighters set to be delivered in 2025 by a number of European states may also see the missiles integrated. European states donating F-16s have on multiple occasions <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/denmark-netherlands-f16s-russia" >made clear</a> that they support the use of their aircraft to strike targets across Russia, and not only on disputed territories. Countries across Europe have also continued to lobby the United States to transfer its own equivalent to the Storm Shadow/SCALP, the JASSM air launched cruise missile, to Ukraine. These missiles could be more easily integrated onto Ukraine’s F-16s. President Joe Biden on August 1 <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/biden-hits-major-missile-upgrade-ukraine-f16" >stated</a> that delivery of a new missile class remained a possibility, with Politico specifying that the JASSM was the class being discussed. <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/first-f16s-donated-general-before-2027" >F-16s pledged to Ukraine</a> are notably obsolete Cold War era variants, and are not considered to have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/ukrainian-f16s-game-changer-russia" >any remotely viable chance</a> in air to air combat against 21st century Russian fighters with phased array radars and modern jamming systems. It has thus long been speculated that the aircraft would be deployed primarily as launch platforms for long range missiles to attack Russian targets from safe distances very far from the frontlines, much as Ukraine’s Soviet era fighters have done.</p>

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *