As of: January 30, 2024, 1:21 p.m
By: Christian Nemeth
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Press
Split
Storm Shadow cruise missiles give Ukraine a military boost.
The weapon system is apparently technically flanked.
Kiev - The Storm Shadow, also known in military circles as SCALP, has been in use in the Ukraine war since May 2022.
The cruise missile, developed as part of an Anglo-French cooperation, has so far appeared to be successful in Kiev's fight against the aggressor from Russia, primarily to attack strategic Russian targets.
The weapon, whose unit price is on average almost one million euros, presumably benefits from separate technology.
Inclusion of a Storm Shadow cruise missile, which Ukraine has successfully used against Russian forces on numerous occasions.
© IMAGO/ABACAPRESS
Storm Shadow missiles benefit from a special technology system
According to the
Kyiv Post,
SCALP missiles have been responsible for some of the “most spectacular and strategically important attacks” against Russian forces to date.
The cruise missiles, which are capable of blowing up bunkers, severely damaged the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in September 2023, and also successfully fired on the Chonhar Bridge, a connecting bridge from Crimea, in June 2023.
Although the Storm Shadow/SCALP is considered a high-performance and difficult-to-detect weapon with stealth technology, according to the
Kyiv Post
, many experts are surprised that the relatively slow-moving missiles can break through Russia's air defense shield with some ease.
One reason for this could be the parallel use of Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), i.e. radar decoy drones.
MALD drones improve the Storm Shadows' chances of impact
The MALDs are a relatively inexpensive product (unit price: around 28,000 euros) from the US defense company Raytheon.
The drones are used to confuse and weaken enemy air defenses.
A MALD visually resembles a cruise missile and can be programmed to simulate specific flight patterns, such as those of a fighter aircraft or a bomber.
In use, the system is useful for attracting the attention of the enemy's defense and thus giving the actual missiles - such as SCALPs - an improved chance of reaching their intended target.
Regarding the formal details: The MALD weighs around 130 kilograms, is 2.85 meters long and has a wingspan of 1.7 meters.
The combat drone is powered by a Pratt & Whitney TJ-150 turbojet engine with a range of almost 1,000 kilometers at a speed of 0.9 Mach, i.e. around 1,111 kilometers per hour.
The technical capabilities of the MALDs, according to the
Kyiv Post
, noticeably exceed those of the SCALP missiles and therefore continue to attract the attention of the Russian army.
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Debris finds are said to confirm Storm Shadow operations
To date, Ukraine and the USA have never officially confirmed the use of MALD combat drones.
Findings of debris from objects destroyed by SCALPs left no doubt about the use of the military decoys, according to the Kiewer Zeitung with reference to the
X
blogger “Ukraine Front”.
All MALD debris discovered on Ukrainian soil would be the older model ADM-160B, which has limited technology compared to modern variants.
The Kyiv Post
analyzes that the question of which platform the drones will be launched from
has not yet been finally clarified .
Presumably, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighters would be used to escort the Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, which act as SCALP carriers.
The MiG-29 is a fighter aircraft that was already developed in the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently considered a ring swap to deliver more Storm Shadows to Ukraine instead of Taurus missiles, but there is resistance within the traffic light.
(chnnn)