'Storm Shadow' missile opens up counterattack power for Ukraine

Senior Western officials confirmed to CNN that Britain has officially provided Ukraine with precision-guided cruise missiles, significantly enhancing the long-range strike power that Kiev has requested since the beginning of the war.

A few weeks earlier, among classified US documents leaked online via the messaging platform Discord, US intelligence said Britain planned to send an unspecified number of “Storm Shadow” missiles and personnel to Ukraine.

Passive target matching combined guidance technology

The “Storm Shadow” missile is designed to penetrate deep into hard targets. It is equipped with “fire and forget” technology and a fully automatic guidance system. The “Storm Shadow” is 5.1m long, has a wingspan of 3m, a body diameter of 0.48m, weighs 1.3 tons and has an operating range of more than 250km.

The new weapons Ukraine received are designed to strike targets with greater precision, using various guidance systems installed inside.

The "Storm Shadow" cruise missile can be easily integrated into older aircraft.

The missile's guidance system includes inertial navigation (INS), global positioning system (GPS) and terrain reference navigation for better control of the trajectory and accurate target engagement. In addition, the missile is equipped with a passive infrared imaging seeker.

“Storm Shadow” is programmed with all the details of the target and trajectory before launch. After being launched from the aircraft, the missile follows a pre-programmed trajectory at low altitude with the help of constantly updated data from the internal navigation system. It then uses an infrared image seeker to compare the actual image of the area with the stored image until it reaches the target.

Regarding the warhead, the “Storm Shadow” is equipped with a two-stage explosive/armor-piercing warhead. The first stage paves the way for the second stage by penetrating the target surface, before the main warhead penetrates inside and explodes.

The “Storm Shadow” missile is equipped with a Turbomeca Microturbo TRI 60-30 jet engine system, capable of generating 5.4kN thrust.

Premise for the counterattack

The Storm Shadow is a long-range, stealthy cruise missile jointly developed by the UK and France, typically launched from the air. With a range exceeding 250km, or 155 miles, it is only slightly behind the 185-mile range of the US-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which Ukraine has long requested.

New weapons give Ukraine long-range strike power in upcoming counter-offensive

In particular, the “Storm Shadow” has a range that can strike deep into Russian-held territories in eastern Ukraine. A Western official told CNN that the UK has received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles will only be used in sovereign Ukrainian territory and not against Russian territory.

“If we can strike at a distance of up to 300km, the Russian army will not be able to defend itself and will have to lose,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the European Union earlier this year.

The senior US military official said the missile is “a real game changer from a range perspective” and gives Ukraine a capability it has requested since the start of the conflict. As CNN reported, Ukraine’s current maximum range for the US-supplied weapon is about 49 miles.

“After launch, the weapon descends to avoid detection. As it approaches the target, its integrated infrared seeker compares the target image with a stored image to ensure precision and minimize collateral damage,” says the website of MBDA Missile Systems, the European company that produces Storm Shadow.

The United States has provided several guided missile systems to Ukraine, including the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, but only with munitions with a limited range of about 50 miles. In a weapons package announced earlier this year, the Pentagon said it would send Ukraine Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDBs) with double the range. They can also be launched from HIMARS, but delivery is not expected until later this year at the earliest.

(According to CNN, Washington Post)

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