Britain to send Ukraine new Storm Shadow missiles: key details

Britain will replenish Ukraine’s stockpile of Storm Shadow missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham agreed on the deal in London on Wednesday, Bloomberg reports.

“Britain regards Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons against Russian targets involved in attacks on civilians and infrastructure as a defensive measure,” a source told the agency. In the British view, Ukraine should not stop striking Russian territory while Moscow refuses to do the same. That position runs counter to pressure from Washington on Kyiv: the US is demanding an end to drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Range of more than 250 kilometres

Britain has not disclosed how many missiles will be handed over or when they will arrive. Storm Shadow missiles have been supplied to Ukraine since 2023, but London has never published how many have been sent since then and does not report individual deliveries.

Burnham brought production documentation to Kyiv for Storm Shadow components made by British companies. It should help Ukraine develop its own missiles, although that could take years. The missiles are built by the European defence group MBDA; their range exceeds 250 kilometres, and to break through enemy air defences they fly a profile that follows the terrain. Ukraine first used the British-French missiles against military targets in Russia in November 2024.

Protection against jet-powered drones

Besides long-range strike capability, Britain is strengthening Ukrainian air defence against jet-powered drones. It has pledged to supply more than 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles worth $2.12 billion (about 46 billion crowns) over four years.

During Zelensky’s visit, deliveries of new surface-to-air missiles worth $59.7 million (about 1.3 billion crowns) were also announced. Roughly a quarter of that sum will go towards speeding up coverage of Ukraine’s most urgent winter air defence needs.

Britain is also urging its partners to tighten sanctions and impose a ban on maritime shipments of Russian liquefied natural gas.

What is Storm Shadow

Storm Shadow (known as SCALP in France) is a British-French long-range air-to-surface missile. It is designed to hit stationary, well-defended targets, including bunkers. It can be used at any time of day and in any weather. The warhead weighs 450 kilograms, and the missile can also be mounted on Soviet-made jets.

Source: novinky.cz