The French President decided to send SCALP long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, so that the Ukrainian Air Force can continue to attack targets of interest deep behind behind the front lines.
French President Emmanuel Macron commented to the press in Vilnius (Lithuania), where the summit of NATO member states is being held, that he intends to increase French military assistance in order to help Kiev in its counter-offensive operations.
«I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply,» he said.
While Macron declined to specify how many missiles would be sent, according to Reuters, a French diplomatic source said there was talk of 50 SCALP missiles being sent. A second source close to the operation said that some of the missiles had already been delivered to Ukraine.
Macron said the handover would adhere to France’s policy of helping Ukraine defend its territory, implying that Paris had received assurances from Kiev that the missiles would not be fired toward Russia.
Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile
Following in the wake of the UK, which in May reported that it was supplying Kiev with Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, Macron will now send a batch of the French version of these weapons, called SCALP (from the French «Système de Croisière Conventionnel Autonome à Longue Portée or Long Range Autonomous Conventional Cruise System).
Designed and produced by the European armament consortium (originally a Franco-British partnership) MBDA, the Storm Shadow / SCALP is the conventionally armed, air-launched, long-range (over 500 km in the French and UK versions) deep strike weapon designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against fixed or stationary high-value targets.
Capable of operating in extreme conditions, the weapon offers operators a highly flexible deep strike capability based on a sophisticated mission planning system.
Storm Shadow / SCALP was commissioned with the Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in 2003 and was used in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya. Storm Shadow / SCALP is operated from Tornado, Rafale, Mirage 2000, Eurofighter Typhoon and recently from Sukhoi Su-24s of the Ukrainian Air Force.
