2023-07-12 09:19:43
A Storm Shadow missile, British version of the French Scalp, at Le Bourget, June 19, 2023. LEWIS JOLY / AP
After leaving doubts for a long time, Emmanuel Macron announced, upon his arrival at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the delivery to Ukraine of several long-range Scalp missiles. This decision confirms France’s desire to continue its military aid, at a time when the Ukrainian counter-offensive promises to be long and complex against the occupying Russian forces. It comes two months after the UK took a similar step by sending several units of its own version of the Scalp, the Storm Shadow.
With a range of more than 250 kilometres, the Scalps, an acronym for “long-range autonomous conventional cruise system”, are intended to strike with precision strategic targets located far behind enemy lines, in particular ammunition depots, centers logistics or protected command posts. They are thus able to threaten Russian forces in the Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow, potentially as far as Crimea.
“It is a mistaken decision, with serious consequences for the Ukrainian side, because, naturally, it will force us to take countermeasures”castigated the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov, in a tone more virulent than the Russian reaction which had followed the announcement of the sending of cluster munitions by the United States, on July 7.
“Quite significant” volume
France considers that sending Scalp responds to the multiplication of Russian strikes well beyond the front line. For months, Russia has been firing missiles that cross Ukrainian territory, causing civilian casualties, as in Uman, in the center of the country, in April, killing twenty-five or in June, in Odessa, killing three people. It was nevertheless agreed with kyiv that the French missiles should not be used outside the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine.
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The exact number of Scalp delivered was not specified, but should, according to our information, be around fifty missiles. Volume “is quite significant, but preserves French stocks very well above the capabilities we need for the defense of France”, assures a military source, at a time when these armaments are also subject to costly modernization. Like the British Storm Shadows, the French Scalp can be installed on Ukrainian planes of Russian design, even if they had to be the subject of a complex adaptation.
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