British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

air-launched cruise missile An air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a military aircraft. Current versions are typically standoff weapons which are used to attack predetermined land and naval targets with conventional weapon, conventio ...

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.English: "Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System – General Purpose"). The missile is based on the French-developed

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

anti-runway cruise missile, but differs in that it carries a unitary warhead instead of

cluster munition A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...

s. To meet the requirement issued by the French Ministry of Defence for a more potent cruise missile capable of being launched from surface vessels and submarines, and able to strike strategic and military targets from extended standoff ranges with even greater precision, MBDA France began development of the '' Missile de Croisière Naval'' ("Naval Cruise Missile") or ''MdCN'' in 2006 to complement the SCALP. The first firing test took place in July 2013 and was successful. The MdCN has been operational on French FREMM frigates since 2017 and also equips France's Barracuda nuclear attack submarines, which entered operational service in 2022. However, MdCN is not a derivative of the Storm Shadow, but a distinct missile. In 2017, a joint contract to upgrade the respective Storm Shadow/SCALP stockpiles in French and British service was signed. It is expected to sustain the missile until its planned withdrawal from service in 2032. Since 2023, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Storm Shadow missiles have been supplied to Ukraine in large quantities. Multiple Russian ships have been either sunk or heavily damaged by them. France, the UK and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

are together developing the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) to replace SCALP/Storm Shadow and each nation's respective

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

s by 2028 and 2034.

Characteristics

The missile weighs about , with a conventional warhead of . It has a maximum body diameter of and a wingspan of . It is propelled at Mach 0.8 by a Microturbo TRI 60-30

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

engine and has a range of approximately . The weapon can be launched from a number of different aircraft—the Saab Gripen, Dassault Mirage 2000,

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

, the

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...

, both the Italian Tornado IDS and formerly the British Tornado GR4 (now retired), and a modified

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

. Storm Shadow was integrated with the

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...

as part of the Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) in 2015, but will not be fitted to the

F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...

. The Storm Shadow's

BROACH warhead The Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge (BROACH) is a multi-stage warhead developed by BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missile Electronics and QinetiQ. Development of BROACH began in 1991 when Team BROACH consisted of Br ...

features an initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay

fuze In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates its function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fu ...

to control

detonation Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...

of the main warhead. Intended targets are command, control and communications centres; airfields; ports and power stations; ammunition management and storage facilities; surface ships and submarines in port; bridges and other high value strategic targets. The missile is fire and forget, programmed before launch. Once launched, it cannot be controlled or commanded to self-destroy and its target information cannot be changed. Mission planners programme the weapon with details of the target and its air defences. The missile follows a path semi-autonomously, on a low flight path guided by GPS and terrain mapping to the target area. Close to the target, the missile climbs to increase its

field of view The field of view (FOV) is the angle, angular extent of the observable world that is visual perception, seen at any given moment. In the case of optical instruments or sensors, it is a solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to elec ...

and improve penetration, matches the target stored image with its IR camera and then dives into the target. Climbing to altitude is intended to achieve the best probability of target identification and penetration. During the final maneuver, the nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high resolution

thermographic camera Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a Thermographic camera, thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are exa ...

(

infrared homing Infrared homing is a Missile guidance#Passive homing, passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "he ...

) to observe the target area. The missile then tries to locate its target based upon its targeting information (

DSMAC Terrain contour matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a contour map of the terrain that is compared with measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM system considerably ...

). If it cannot, and there is a high risk of

collateral damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

, the missile is capable of flying to a crash point instead of risking inaccuracy. Enhancements reported in 2005 included the capability to relay target information just before impact and usage of one-way (link back)

data link A data link is a means of telecommunications link, connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a t ...

to relay battle damage assessment information back to the host aircraft, under development under a French DGA contract. At the time, inflight re-targeting capability using a two-way data link was planned. In 2016, it was announced that Storm Shadow would be refurbished under the Selective Precision Effects At Range 4 (SPEAR 4) missile project, with the upgrade being completed in 2022. Some reports suggest a reduced capability version complying with

Missile Technology Control Regime The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...

(MTCR) restrictions was created for export, for example to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. The missile relies on classified US-owned cartographic data, using Terrain Contour Matching or

TERCOM Terrain contour matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a Contour line, contour map of the terrain that is compared with measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM syste ...

, to guide the missile to the target. This gives the US government veto of any sales to foreign countries under ITAR. In 2018 the French government tried to bypass this by creating a "ITAR-free" version of the missile for sale to Egypt that didn't use TERCOM. The missiles would have relied solely on GPS and inertial navigation systems to get to the target, making the missile more vulnerable to electronic warfare. An issue in Ukraine, where Russian jams GPS signals, is that US approval and data is necessary for the missiles to operate to peak performance.

History

Matra and British Aerospace were selected as the prime contractors for the Conventionally Armed Standoff Missile (CASOM) in July 1996; their Storm Shadow missile beat submissions from

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

,

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

/

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

, Hughes/

Smiths Industries Smiths or Smith's may refer to: Companies *Smith Electric Vehicles, or Smith's, a manufacturer of electric trucks *Smith's Food and Drug, or Smith's, an American supermarket chain ** Smith's Ballpark, a baseball stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, U. ...

, Daimler-Benz Aerospace/

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Locate ...

, GEC-Marconi and Rafael. The Storm Shadow design was based on Matra's

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

anti-runway cruise missile. A development and production contract was signed in February 1997, by which time Matra and BAe had completed the merger of their missile businesses to form

Matra BAe Dynamics Matra BAe Dynamics was an Anglo-French 50/50 joint venture formed in August 1996 through a merger between half the missile business of France's Matra Hautes Technologies (the aerospace, defence and telecommunications division of the Matra conglo ...

. France ordered 500 SCALP missiles in January 1998. The first successful fully guided firing of the Storm Shadow/SCALP EG took place at the CEL Biscarosse range in France at the end of December 2000 from a Mirage 2000N. The first flight of Storm Shadow missiles on the

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...

took place on 27 November 2013 at Decimomannu Air Base in Italy, and was performed by

Alenia Aermacchi Alenia Aermacchi was a company active in the aeronautics sector, with offices and plants in Venegono Superiore, Varese, Turin Airport in San Maurizio Canavese, Province of Turin and Pomigliano d'Arco, Province of Naples. From 1 January 2016, the ...

using instrumented production aircraft 2. The SCALP EG and Storm Shadow are identical except for how they integrate with the aircraft. In July 2016, the UK's MoD awarded a £28 million contract to support the Storm Shadow over the next five years.

Combat use

RAF Tornados used Storm Shadow missiles operationally for the first time during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Although they were yet to officially enter service, "an accelerated testing schedule" saw them employed by the RAF's

617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron commonly known as The Dambusters for its actions during Operation Chastise against German dams during the World War II, Second World War, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire ...

in the conflict. During the

2011 military intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a NATO-led coalition began a military intervention into the ongoing Libyan civil war (2011), Libyan Civil War to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973). The UN Security Council passed the reso ...

, the Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG was fired at pro-Gaddafi targets by

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

Rafales and

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Tornados. Targets included the Al Jufra Air Base, and a military bunker in

Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...

, the home town of Libyan leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

. In December 2011, Italian defence officials noted that Italian Tornado IDS aircraft had fired between 20 and 30 Storm Shadows during the Libyan Campaign. This was the first time that Italian aircraft had fired the missile in live combat, and it was reported the missile had a 97 per cent success rate. French aircraft fired 12 SCALP missiles at

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

targets in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

as part of Operation Chammal. These launches took place on 15 December 2015 and 2 January 2016. It is thought that these firings may have been approved after a decision by the French MoD to reduce their inventory of SCALP missiles to reduce costs. On Sunday 26 June 2016 the RAF used four Storm Shadow missiles against an ISIS bunker in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The Storm Shadow missiles were launched from two Tornado aircraft. All four missiles scored direct hits, penetrating deep into the bunker. Storm Shadow missiles were used due to the bunker's massive construction. In October 2016 the UK Government confirmed UK-supplied missiles were used by Saudi Arabia in the conflict in Yemen. In April 2018 the UK Government announced they used Storm Shadow missiles deployed by Panavia Tornado GR4s to

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

a chemical weapon facility in Syria. According to US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the Him Shinshar chemical weapons storage facility near Homs was hit by 9 US Tomahawks, 8 British Storm Shadows, 3 French MdCN cruise missiles, and 2 French SCALP cruise missiles. Satellite images showed that the site was destroyed in the attack. The Pentagon said that no missiles had been intercepted, and that the raids were "precise and overwhelming". In response, the Russian Ministry of Defence, during a press conference in Moscow, presented parts of what they claimed was a downed Storm Shadow missile. It has been suggested that Storm Shadows, deployed by either Emirati Mirage 2000s or Egyptian Rafales, could have been used in the July 2020 airstrike against Al-Watiya Air Base during the

Second Libyan Civil War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

. The attack against the base, which housed Turkish military personnel supporting the internationally recognised

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...

, injured several Turkish soldiers, destroyed their

MIM-23 Hawk The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK ("Homing All the Way Killer") is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile. It was designed to be a much more mobile counterpart to the MIM-14 Nike Hercules, trading off range and altitude capability for a much sm ...

anti-aircraft missiles systems and their KORAL electronic warfare system. On 11 March 2021, two Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 jets operating out of

RAF Akrotiri Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviated RAF Akrotiri (; ) is a large Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which comprise Akroti ...

,

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

hit a cave complex south west of the city of

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

in northern Iraq, where a significant number of

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

fighters were reported, marking the first combat use of the Storm Shadow from the Typhoon.

Ukraine

On 11 May 2023, the United Kingdom announced that it was supplying Storm Shadows to the Ukrainian military during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. This followed a pledge from the UK in February 2023 to send Ukraine long-range missiles in response to Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure. Ukraine has insisted it would not use such weapons on Russian territory. UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace emphasised the delivery as a "calibrated, proportionate response to Russia's escalation", noting Russian use of even longer-range munitions including the Kh-47M2

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...

missile, 3M-54 Kalibr cruise missile, and Shahed-136 one-way attack drone. The grant of Storm Shadow missiles is a significant boost to the Ukrainian military, as they are capable of striking targets at much longer ranges than had previously been possible, including command-and-control nodes and logistics points in occupied

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

to interrupt Russia's ability to support the frontline. Shortly after, France announced it would be delivering the SCALP EG, its version of the missile, to Ukraine as well. France said it was not delivering weapons capable of hitting Russian soil. The UK on 18 May confirmed Ukraine had already successfully used the Storm Shadow. Although no information was publicly disclosed regarding when exactly the French missiles were delivered to Ukraine, Ukraine's ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, confirmed in an interview with LB.ua on 22 August 2023 that all SCALP missiles promised by French president

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

had been delivered already, likely by the time of the latter's announcement in May. Omelchenko further stated that the first batch of missiles (reported by some outlets to number 50 units) had more than proven its worth and that supplies of SCALP batches by France would continue. Previously, on 6 August, a few days after the attack on the Chongar Strait railway bridge, the SCALP's operational status in Ukraine had visually been confirmed as were its use in the attack and its successful integration to Ukrainian

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

bombers.

Russia claimed Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles to strike industrial sites in

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

on 13 May 2023, just two days after their delivery had been announced. According to a report by Russian news outlet

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

, the cruise missiles are launched from specially modified

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

strike aircraft and fly under the cover of

MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

and

Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supersonic supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet fighters suc ...

fighters equipped with

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments ...

s. Ukrainian command also uses UAVs and ADM-160 MALD decoys to divert Russian air defenses and protect the aircraft and ordnance from being intercepted. Ukraine's Minister of Defense

Oleksii Reznikov Oleksii Yuriiovych Reznikov (, ; born 18 June 1966) is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who served as the List of Ministers of Defense (Ukraine), Minister of Defence of Ukraine from 4 November 2021 until his dismissal on 5 September 2023. ...

confirmed the Su-24 as the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ZSU). Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Fo ...

's Storm Shadow launch platform, tweeting a photo of a Su-24MR with a missile on each of its inboard underwing pylons. The pylons use an adaptor derived from retired RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft. Reznikov said at the end of May that the missiles had hit 100% of their targets, although Russia's Defence Ministry has claimed to have shot some down. On 12 June, a strike which involved the Storm Shadow killed Major General Sergey Goryachev in

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Zaporizhzhia Oblast (), commonly referred to as Zaporizhzhia (), is an oblast (region) in south-east Ukraine. Its administrative centre is the city of Zaporizhzhia. The oblast covers an area of , and has a population of The oblast is an import ...

. At the time he was Chief of Staff of the

35th Combined Arms Army The 35th Combined Arms Red Banner Army is a field army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army was first formed in July 1941 with the Far Eastern Front. After spending most of World War II guarding the border in Primorsky Krai, the army fought i ...

. On 22 June, the Chonhar road bridge connecting Crimea with

Kherson Oblast Kherson Oblast (, ; ), also known as Khersonshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in southern Ukraine. It is located just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson, on the northern or right bank ...

was struck by a Storm Shadow missile to interrupt Russian logistics. A largely intact Storm Shadow crashed in Zaporizhzhia in early July.

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

claimed Russian forces had shot it down and recovered the wreckage to study the missile's design and help develop countermeasures to it. On 9 July 2023, Storm Shadow/SCALP missile was shot down by Russian air defence and captured later. On 29 July 2023, a Storm Shadow or SCALP missile hit the Chongar Strait railway bridge linking occupied Crimea with the Kherson Oblast, landing between the two tracks on the bridge approach. On 13 September 2023, Storm Shadow and/or SCALP missiles were used in a strike against the

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

port, seriously damaging the '' Rostov na Donu'' submarine and seriously damaging (according to some sources, beyond repair) the Ropucha-class landing ship ''

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

''. On 22 September 2023, at least three Storm Shadow and/or SCALP missiles hit the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

headquarters in Sevastopol. According to the Ukraine military, the missile attack targeted a meeting of the Russian Navy's leadership. "After the hit of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers were killed, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet", they said. While no confirmation of Sokolov's alleged death is known, neither has any reliable source depicted him as alive and well since the attack took place. They also claimed that the strike wounded at least 100 other Russian service personnel. On 26 December 2023 it is believed two Storm Shadow and/or SCALP missiles were launched against the Russian occupied port of

Feodosia Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...

with the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk being hit and turned into a burning wreck. At a news conference on 28 May 2024, French President Macron said he permitted Ukraine to use SCALP missiles to strike targets inside Russia, a major departure from previous guidelines that restricted the use of foreign-supplied weapons only to occupied territory. This expansion of use is still restricted to neutralisation of military facilities being used for attacks into Ukraine. In July 2024, the British Prime Minister

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

announced that the British government would allow the defensive use of Storm Shadow missiles on targets inside Russia. On 25 September 2024, Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

warned the West that if attacked with conventional weapons Russia would consider a nuclear retaliation, in an apparent deviation from the

no first use In nuclear ethics and deterrence theory, no first use (NFU) refers to a type of pledge or policy wherein a nuclear power formally refrains from the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in warfare, except for as a se ...

doctrine. Putin went on to threaten nuclear powers that if they supported another country's attack on Russia, then they would be considered participants in such an aggression. Experts say Putin's announcement is aimed at dissuading the United States, the United Kingdom and France from allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied long-range missiles such as the ATACMS and Storm Shadow in strikes against Russia. On 20 November 2024, Ukraine was reported to have fired British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time. The use of Storm Shadow missiles comes after Russia launched a counteroffensive in Kursk, which was invaded by Ukrainian troops in August. It also follows the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

's decision to give Ukraine the green light to use US-made long-range missiles inside Russia earlier this week. Kyiv first used ATACMS to strike a military facility in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

early on 19 November. It was later reported that the 20 November strikes had hit an underground military facility in Maryino,

Kursk Oblast Kursk Oblast (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kursk. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, Kursk Oblast had a pop ...

, allegedly killing Russian general Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk, some other Russian officers, and North Korean troops. Russian authorities did not confirm the losses and there has been no independent verification yet.

India

The Indian Air Force deployed Rafale jets armed with SCALP missiles and AASM Hammer bombs, in an operation to strike 9 targets during the 23 minute-long

Operation Sindoor Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, early in the morning of 7 May 2025. On 10 May 2025, the Indian Air Force attacked several airbases in Pakistan utilising air-launched cruise missiles. Among the weaponry deployed were SCALP missiles, resulting in damage to the targeted Pakistani airbases.

Export variant

Black Shaheen

Developed by France for export to the United Arab Emirates for use with its Mirage 2000, modifications were made to reduce the range reportedly to in order to comply with

Missile Technology Control Regime The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...

guidelines.

MdCN

In 2006, MBDA France began the development of a more potent deep strike naval cruise missile to be deployed on a new series of French warships and submarines for land-attack operations in order to complement the SCALP/Storm Shadow. This Missile de Croisière Naval (MdCN), formerly dubbed ''SCALP Naval'', became operational on the French

FREMM multipurpose frigate The European multi-purpose frigate or FREMM (; ) is a Franco-Italian family of warships designed by Naval Group and Fincantieri. This surface combatant is known in France as the ''Aquitaine'' class (17 units planned, of which 9 were later cance ...

s in 2017 and on s in June 2022, using the A70 version of the Sylver launcher on the former and the 533 mm torpedo tubes on the latter. As it is not launched from a plane like the SCALP, the MdCN uses a booster during its launch phase to break out of the ship and gain some initial velocity. Despite the fact that it was previously called SCALP Naval, it is not a variant of the Storm Shadow, has no stealth shaping, but is a more conventional, longer range sea-launched cruise missile, very similar to Tomahawk.

Replacement

Between 2016 and 2018, France and the United Kingdom began jointly developing a replacement for Storm Shadow/SCALP for both the

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, as well as the

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...

and

Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

s for the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. As of 2022, the programme was examining two complementary concepts; a subsonic, low observable missile and a

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

, highly manoeuvrable missile. On 20 June 2023 at the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

, Italy signed a letter of intent to join the programme. Italy confirmed its initial funding contribution in November and this also came with the announcement that the programme would produce a deep-strike land-attack missile by 2028 and an anti-ship missile by 2034.

Operators

; : Undisclosed number of SCALP-EG missiles ordered as part of the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

deal was confirmed to

Večernji list (also known as '; ) is a Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian daily newspaper published in Zagreb and Mostar. History and profile was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its predecessor ' ('Evening Courier') appeared for the first time on 3 June 1957 in ...

by head of Croatian Air Force Michael Križanec. ; : 100+ delivered for the

Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) () is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy ...

as part of the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

deal. ; : 500 SCALP missiles ordered for the

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

in 1998. 50 MdCNs ordered in 2006 and a further 150 ordered in 2009 for the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. ; : 90 ordered for the

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

in 2000 and 2003. More ordered and delivered in 2022 as part of the Dassault Rafale F3R deal. ; : 200 ordered for the

Aeronautica Militare The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force"). After World War II, when Italy b ...

in 1999. ; : Undisclosed number ordered for the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

in 2016 as part of the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

deal. ; : 140 ordered for the

Qatar Air Force The Qatar Emiri Air Force () (QEAF) is the air arm of the Qatar Armed Forces, armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in 1974 as a small aerial support wing, although in modern times it has evolved into a potent, well equipped for ...

in 2015. ; : Undisclosed number ordered for the

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

. ; : Undisclosed number donated by France, Italy, and the UK. ; : Undisclosed number ordered for the United Arab Emirates Air Force in 1997. Known as ''Black Shaheen''. ; : ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' estimated the order for the Royal Air Force to be between 700 and 1,000.

References

External links

MBDA's SCALP Naval page

RAF long-range air-to surface missiles page

{{UKmissiles Cruise missiles of the United Kingdom Cruise missiles of France Naval cruise missiles Military equipment introduced in the 2000s Post–Cold War missiles of the United Kingdom Cruise missiles Air-launched cruise missiles Military equipment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Stealth cruise missiles MBDA Surface-to-surface missiles of the United Kingdom Surface-to-surface missiles of France

Characteristics

History

Combat use

Ukraine

India

Export variant

Black Shaheen

MdCN

Replacement

Operators

See also

References

External links