CNN, citing sources from senior Western officials, reported that the UK handed over long-range air-launched cruise missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on 11 May. By the way, about the fact that such products have been in Ukraine for a long time, in mid-April Accepted as “socialbites.ca”.
Therefore, Storm Shadow, designed to attack objects of the RF Armed Forces deployed in the deep rear, has long been in the arsenals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and such products are waiting in the wings. Again, the answer to the question is obvious – why was this missile not used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine before?
Here, the actions of the Ukrainian side are quite understandable and look like this – to acquire weapons, build up the necessary stockpiles, use them suddenly and in large quantities, thereby achieving the necessary effect of operational significance.
It is quite possible that the latest statement of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky about the intention to delay the start of the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is precisely connected with the desire of Kiev to build up even greater stockpiles of Storm Shadow missiles. more reliably disable all Russian facilities provided by the fire destruction plan.
Threat to the airfields of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation and the Crimean bridge
The Storm Shadow / SCALP air-launched cruise missile is a British-French joint development and manufactured by the European consortium MBDA (Matra BAE Dynamics Alenia).
The French version of the missile is abbreviated SCALP EG, which translates as an autonomously guided multi-purpose, high-precision, long-range cruise missile. The product is equipped with a warhead weighing 460 kg, with a flight altitude of 30-40 m and a rocket speed of 0.8 M (approximately 1000 km/h).
As before Wrote “socialbites.ca”, in various publications and reference books the Storm Shadow / SCALP’s firing range varies greatly. In some sources it is given as over 250 km, in others – 300 nautical miles (550 km). It is also possible that the manufacturer is keeping the actual shooting range a secret. It is quite possible that it will significantly exceed 550 km, and at least 1000 km with two external tanks.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that the range of the Storm Shadow missiles transferred to Ukraine is limited to 300 km, and this is done in accordance with the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
It is an informal political agreement between 35 member states seeking to limit the spread of missiles and missile technology. The MTCR proposes to limit the proliferation risks of weapons of mass destruction as much as possible by controlling the export of goods and technologies that may contribute to the firing systems of such weapons (other than manned aircraft). In this context, MTCR focuses on hardware, software and technology, as well as missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that can carry a payload of at least 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) to a range of at least 300 kilometers (190 miles). such systems.
At the same time, MTCR is not an agreement and does not impose any legally binding obligations on partners (members). This is an informal political agreement between states trying to limit the spread of missiles and missile technology.
Thus, hypothetically, there are no restrictions on the supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Storm Shadow / SCALP air-launched cruise missiles with a significantly longer firing range. Today it can be 290 km, tomorrow – 560, the day after tomorrow – 1000 km.
The Ukrainian Air Force can use the Su-24M front-line bomber as a carrier aircraft for the Storm Shadow ALCM. Earlier, Poland promised to adapt such Ukrainian aircraft for combat use of Storm Shadow as soon as possible. Other currently unknown options are possible. So, there is no doubt that Kiev will not have major difficulties with carriers.
The aiming principle of “Storm Shadow” is “shoot and forget”. The use of Storm Shadow ALCMs in military conflicts has been documented since 2003. During the conflict, the rocket showed a very high efficiency.
Among the tactical and technical characteristics of Storm Shadow, special attention should be paid to the parameters of the warhead – almost half a ton of high-piercing explosive, which is twice the weight of the ATACMS Block IA tactical ballistic missile used by Ukraine. Until now, the West has asked unsuccessfully from the very beginning of the conflict.
One of the very strong qualities of the Storm Shadow cruise missile is its low radar visibility, which, combined with flying at extremely low altitudes, makes it very difficult for anti-aircraft missile units to successfully fire at such targets.
Most likely, in medium rough terrain conditions, S-400 multifunctional radars and S-300PM illumination and guidance radars will be able to detect the Storm Shadow missile at a flight altitude of 50 m at a distance of not more than 16-. 18 km. It is still difficult to say how the detection range of the Storm Shadow missile will be affected by the low radar visibility. It will be possible to really clarify this only during hostilities.
After detecting and capturing Storm Shadow for escort, it is necessary to immediately fire two anti-aircraft guided missile bursts to more reliably defeat the Storm. In this case, the missiles will meet the target at a distance of approximately 11-13 km. At the slightest delay (the slowness of the combat crew of the anti-aircraft missile unit), Storm Shadow will leave the affected area in a few seconds.
Live firing can significantly facilitate the acquisition of information and external target designation data from the radio engineering troops about the passage of Storm Shadow. This will be possible in the case of a well-built and layered air defense system. At the same time, a mixed grouping of anti-aircraft missile forces, that is, air defense systems / air defense systems of various types, is desirable.
Intended targets for Storm Shadow are command points, communication centers, ammunition depots, moored ships, infrastructure facilities (bridge crossings, railroad junctions, unloading stations). A Storm Shadow rocket costs around 850,000 euros.
Possible battle tactics
The Crimean Bridge is, of course, the highest priority target the Storm Shadow cruise missiles will hit. There is every reason to believe that precisely against him, in the first hours of the upcoming offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the first and strongest blow could be delivered to completely destroy this bridge.
It should be noted that the Crimean Bridge is not only of strategic importance for the supply of materials to the Joint Troop Group of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Forces), but also of the most important moral and psychological importance for the Russian Federation. The largest masses of the Russian population. For these reasons, it is number one in the list of objects to be destroyed by fire by the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For a more reliable defeat of the Crimean bridge, a combined attack with operational-tactical ballistic missiles missile system (OTRK) “Grom-2“and the air-launched cruise missiles Storm Shadow.
In this case, several products of both types (and absolutely from different directions) will simultaneously enter the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft missile systems. This will be done in order to distract the air defense systems / air defense systems combat teams to the maximum extent possible. It is possible to add Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Thunder and Storm Shadow to disable the bridge more reliably.
At the same time, for the same purposes, the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft missile divisions and batteries located on the cover of the Crimean bridge will include many unmanned aerial vehicles with decoys and UAVs – jammers. Thus, the enemy will try to significantly complicate the air and jamming situation, creating conditions that maximally impede the successful performance of live firing by the crew of Russian air defense systems / air defense systems.
Surely the enemy will move from the ground. To this end, the sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine approached the minimum possible distance to the launch positions of the air defense systems / air defense systems a few minutes before the attack of the Grom-2 and Storm Shadow. OTRK systems will attempt to launch Switchblade type tactical idle ammunition to destroy the radar systems of 300 anti-aircraft missile units. Those that can be easily carried in backpacks, launched from a pneumatic system or even a low-power Switchblade 300 warhead, for example, are enough to disable an expensive antenna array of a phased antenna array of a multifunctional S-400 radar.
Approximately the same scheme will be used to destroy the airfields of operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, within the reach of Storm Shadow.
Consequences of the transfer of the Storm Shadow missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
After the delivery of long-range air-launched cruise missiles to the Ukrainian army, another important psychological milestone in the transfer of some long-range weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been lifted.
If earlier such a question was practically impossible to formulate, then after the transfer of Storm Shadow, there was little left before the delivery of the fourth generation F-16 multirole fighters with AGM-158 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. JASSM air-to-ground missiles with a firing range of up to 1000 km in the ER version.
JASSM is a high-precision cruise missile designed to destroy important, highly protected fixed and mobile targets in all weather conditions and around the clock. The warhead of this product is 450 kg, and two AGM-158 missiles can be mounted on the F-16 warplane.
After Storm Shadow’s delivery, all this doesn’t seem like a heated fantasy at all.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the opinion of the editors.
Author biography:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military observer of socialbites.ca, a retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-aircraft Missile School (1976),
Air Defense Military Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile battalion (1980–1983).
Deputy commander of an anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986–1988).
Senior officer of the Main Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988–1992).
Chief of the General Staff Main Operations Directorate (1992–2000).
Graduate of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000–2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010–2015).