ANALYSIS – Britain has ramped up the Western effort to arm Ukraine by donating long-range cruise missiles to the besieged country for the first time. This could now open the door for the U.S. and other allies to provide longer-range weapons as well.
Joe Biden has balked at doing so due to fear of provoking Vladimir Putin and escalating the conflict. And Putin isn't happy with this British missile donation, with his spokesman vowing an “adequate response.”
But Putin's permanent representative of Crimea went a lot further in an interview published on Friday, threatening that the U.K. may be turned “into a devastated territory” following the delivery of the weapons to Ukraine.
Storm Shadow is a low-observable, air-launched cruise missile that operates like a dive-bomber. After launch, it cruises at low altitude before shooting up and then coming down on its target almost vertically from above.
The cruise missile is armed with a penetrating ‘double warhead' capable of penetrating and destroying hardened and buried targets like bunkers.
The British missile can fly at up to 600 mph and has a range of well over 155 miles. That is significantly further than the high-precision U.S. Himars rockets currently used heavily by Ukraine, which rely on missiles with a range of 40-50 miles.
Military officials have described the missile as a “a real game-changer from a range perspective.” Their speed equates to a precision weapon that can hit targets at maximum range in just 35 minutes from time of launch.
The missiles are expected to be available to Ukraine prior to its looming counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces. Some analysts believe Kyiv could even push into Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Storm Shadow has the potential to strike the Kerch Strait Bridge, which is Russia's sole land link with the Crimean Peninsula and a key supply route for Russia's forces.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said the counter-offensive is currently on hold.
Despite their long range, Ukraine has reportedly promised Britain that these missiles would be used only within Ukraine and not fired against targets inside Russia.
Meanwhile, despite Putin's threats, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace argued that Russia only has itself to blame since its actions have led to the deployment of the Storm Shadows.
Wallace also noted that the British missiles could not compare to the far more devastating weapons being used by Putin.
“These systems are not even in the same league as the Russian AS-24 killjoy hypersonic missile” or “even the Kalibr cruise missile with a range of over 2,000 kilometres [1,243 miles]”, he said.
Wallace continued: “Russia must recognise that their actions alone have led to such systems being provided to Ukraine.”
For more analysis on the impact of this weapon see the video below.
The Anglo-French Storm Shadow was developed by Matra and British Aerospace in the mid-1990s but is now produced by the European arms group MBDA. It has been operated by both British and French air forces and has been used previously in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya.
Let's see if Russia retaliates against the U.K. or is just bluffing – again.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Can or will Russia react??
Wolf Blitzer on CNN gives advance notice to Putin about a missile that Ukraine has acquired as an offensive because I’m sure Russia has access to the internet and monitors it consistently!
Russia probably welcomes his telegraphing any and all “punches”
This War is very real and CNN getting ratings by exposing tactical information doesn’t help Ukraine by telling everyone that is Watching
and “Listening”
All the missiles and other high tech weapons on both sides don’t mean diddly if the troop on the ground doesn’t want to fight or is not trained. Russian troops are deficient in that category.