The UK is set to hand over blueprints for its British-French designed Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine – following a similar move from France – allowing Ukraine to produce the weapon domestically. The move sends an important signal, showing that some western nations are willing to share their expertise and know how to help Ukraine defend itself. But, on its own, this won't dramatically alter the course of the war.
Scalp and Storm Shadow missiles have already been provided to Kyiv by both Britain and France. They've already been used to hit military targets inside Russia. Burnham to hand long-range missile blueprints to Zelensky as he visits Kyiv The weapons are not new – they were developed in the 1990's - and they are expensive – at around £1m a piece.
They also rely on complex global supply chains and have been built in peacetime at relatively low rates – in the hundreds, not the thousands. Even with the blueprints, Ukraine may find it hard to source components. It could take months, possibly years to make the cruise missile themselves.
Copying western weapons production in peacetime is, in fact, no way to win a war. Even Nato nations now realise that. Britain and many of its allies have tended to produce small quantities of highly advanced, expensive missiles which would quickly run out in any protracted conflict.
In 2021, the former head of the US Army in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said that in a Nato wargame the UK military ran out of key weapons within a matter of days. Proof of the recent change in mindset is the UK military is no longer buying Storm Shadow missiles for itself. Instead, under Project Brakestop, it's developing its own long range cruise missiles, free of foreign components, and less than half the price of a Storm Shadow.
Project Brakestop is also being done at break-neck speed. The UK hopes to have a new cruise missile ready by the end of the year. It's promising to supply the new weapon to Ukraine.
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