First French long-range missiles already in Ukraine
Published: 05:07 PM,Jul 11,2023 | EDITED : 08:07 PM,Jul 11,2023
PARIS: France's announcement on Tuesday that it would send SCALP long-range missiles to Ukraine comes months after Britain began delivering its identical Storm Shadow.
Developed jointly by the two Nato allies, Storm Shadow/SCALP is a 1,300-kilogramme missile armed with conventional explosives, usually launched from aircraft such as the Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon or French Rafale.
The first SCALPs were already in Ukraine as President Emmanuel Macron announced their delivery, a French military source said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Built by missile maker MBDA, the missile's range of over 250 kilometres makes it the longest-range Western weapon supplied to Kyiv so far.
It is capable of striking targets far into the country's Russian-occupied east, well behind front lines that have remained relatively fixed for months.
Such capability is 'critical for Ukraine's forces to disrupt Russian logistics and command and control,' said Ivan Klyszcz, a researcher at the Estonia based International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS).
SCALP strikes could help 'with Ukraine's current approach to operations... namely to advance slowly so as to protect its forces and reduce its own casualties as much as possible,' he added.
French deliveries would 'preserve the clarity and coherence of our doctrine, which is to allow Ukraine to defend its territory' from Russian war, Macron said.
The subtext is that French-supplied weapons should not be allowed to hit Russian territory, after Moscow's repeated warnings of reprisals.
Macron's message matched that of Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said in May that Storm Shadow would 'allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory'.
'With these weapons, a few jets operating within the safe space of their own air defences can make a difference,' said Dylan Lehrke of UK-based private intelligence firm Janes.
'Russian forces can deny Ukrainian aircraft the use of airspace above territory they control, but they have been unable to defend against deep strikes,' he added.
Manufacturer MBDA says on its website that the SCALP is 'designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high-value fixed or stationary targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure'.
The missile uses inertial navigation, GPS and terrain referencing to chart a low-altitude course to its target to avoid detection. — AFP
Developed jointly by the two Nato allies, Storm Shadow/SCALP is a 1,300-kilogramme missile armed with conventional explosives, usually launched from aircraft such as the Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon or French Rafale.
The first SCALPs were already in Ukraine as President Emmanuel Macron announced their delivery, a French military source said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Built by missile maker MBDA, the missile's range of over 250 kilometres makes it the longest-range Western weapon supplied to Kyiv so far.
It is capable of striking targets far into the country's Russian-occupied east, well behind front lines that have remained relatively fixed for months.
Such capability is 'critical for Ukraine's forces to disrupt Russian logistics and command and control,' said Ivan Klyszcz, a researcher at the Estonia based International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS).
SCALP strikes could help 'with Ukraine's current approach to operations... namely to advance slowly so as to protect its forces and reduce its own casualties as much as possible,' he added.
French deliveries would 'preserve the clarity and coherence of our doctrine, which is to allow Ukraine to defend its territory' from Russian war, Macron said.
The subtext is that French-supplied weapons should not be allowed to hit Russian territory, after Moscow's repeated warnings of reprisals.
Macron's message matched that of Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said in May that Storm Shadow would 'allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory'.
'With these weapons, a few jets operating within the safe space of their own air defences can make a difference,' said Dylan Lehrke of UK-based private intelligence firm Janes.
'Russian forces can deny Ukrainian aircraft the use of airspace above territory they control, but they have been unable to defend against deep strikes,' he added.
Manufacturer MBDA says on its website that the SCALP is 'designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high-value fixed or stationary targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure'.
The missile uses inertial navigation, GPS and terrain referencing to chart a low-altitude course to its target to avoid detection. — AFP