It’s Not A Storm, It’s A Hurricane! Russia Braces For Storm Shadow Pain As UK Pulls Out All The Stops On Weapon Supplies

According to CNN, the United Kingdom has supplied Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles, pulling out all the stops on restraints in supplying advanced long-range weapon systems to Ukraine. The Storm Shadow is among the deadliest cruise missiles in the world today.

Co-developed by Matra and British Aerospace, and manufactured by MBDA, the Storm Shadow (French variant is called SCALP-EG) is a turbojet-powered missile that cruises at Mach 0.8 to a max range of 560 kilometers.

It’s a relatively small missile; weighing just 1.3 tons, it packs a big 450-kilogram warhead. (In contrast, India’s Brahmos missile weighs 2.5 tons and features a 400-kilogram warhead). The Storm Shadow has a length of 5.1 meters, a maximum body diameter of 48 cm, and a wingspan of 3 meters.

LO Shaping

The radar’s low observable shaping and the relatively small size of the missile make it difficult to detect and track using ground-based radars, as also look down, and shoot down airborne radars such as those that equip Russian MiG-31BM, Su-35S, and Su-30SM fighters.

The ability of Russia’s A-50 AWACS (Airborne Warning & Control System) to track a low-flying LO-shaped missile like the Storm Shadow is debatable.

The fact that low-flying Ukrainian Su-25 continues to fly missions evading detection likely points to limitations in the A-50’s ability to detect targets against ground clutter. Also, Russia has a rather limited number of A-50 aircraft.

EW Immunity, Pinpoint Accuracy

Following the launch, the Storm Shadow navigates semi-autonomously to its target at low levels using a combination of INS, GPS, and terrain mapping.

If the GPS signal is jammed, the missile uses terrain mapping to update its position.

missile

As it arrives close to the target area, the missile climbs up sharply to a height that is adequate to locate its target. It then bunts down and jettisons its nose cone, exposing a high-resolution thermographic camera that records the scene in the target area.

The missile compares the target scene with the digital image of the target stored in its memory to identify the target and fly into it positively.

If the missile is not able to identify its target, it can fly to a preprogrammed crash point to avoid collateral damage. Target identification and terminal homing are entirely passive, making the missile immune to EW during navigation as well as during the end game.

Warhead Destructive Power

The 450-kilogram BROACH warhead of the missile features an initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay fuze to control the detonation of the main warhead.

The missile is able to engage a variety of targets, such as control centers, hardened aircraft shelters, runways, buildings, bridges, air defense emplacements, and ships in port.

Launch Platform Limitations

The Storm Shadow is a fire-and-forget missile. Once launched, the missile cannot be controlled or commanded to self-destroy, and its target information cannot be changed.

The missile equips advanced fighters, such as the Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon, which can program the missile before launch. The programming includes an IR image of the intended target, a digital terrain map of the route, adversary air defenses along the route, etc.

It is highly unlikely that the Storm Shadow can be fully integrated with Ukrainian Air Force fighters such as Su-24,  Su-25, or MiG-29.

Pre-launch programming of the missile would need to be done on the ground before the missile is mounted onto its launch platform. As such, it would not be possible to use the missile against targets of opportunity.