Story by Kateryna Serohina
Nov 26, 2024
Ukraine received new Storm Shadow missiles from the UK (Illustrative photo: MBDA)© RBC-Ukraine
The UK government recently delivered a new batch of long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. This shipment follows the decision by London to lift restrictions on the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ use of this weaponry, reports Bloomberg.
According to a Western news agency, the Storm Shadow missiles were sent to Kyiv following a recent decision by the United States and the UK to allow Ukraine to launch long-range strikes on targets within Russia.
Bloomberg, citing informed sources, reported that dozens of Storm Shadow cruise missiles were delivered to Ukraine.
However, the sources declined to specify when exactly the missiles arrived or provide the exact number, citing security concerns.
The delivery of this new batch of Storm Shadow missiles marks the first under the leadership of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s military aggression.
“The deliveries, which were not publicly announced, took place several weeks ago and were ordered after Kyiv ran low on the long-range missiles,” the sources told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory
Last week, Western media reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had used British Storm Shadow missiles for the first time to strike targets on Russian territory.
On November 23, Global Defense published an article stating that Ukrainian strikes with Storm Shadow missiles targeted a Russian underground military command post in the village of Maryino, located in the Kursk region. As a result, 500 North Korean soldiers and Russian officers were killed.
This occurred just one day after Ukrainian forces launched American-made ATACMS tactical missile systems at a military facility in the Bryansk region.
Ukrainian forces had previously used Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets in the Black Sea.
Lifting of the taboo on strikes with Western missiles
Officials from the governments of the US and the UK have stated that the decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets in Russia – something Kyiv had long requested – was a response to the deployment of North Korean troops by the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine.
According to media reports, this move is also seen as a way for current US President Joe Biden and his allies to strengthen Ukraine’s position in any potential negotiations with Moscow. The possibility of such negotiations is considered in light of promises made by the elected US president, Donald Trump, to quickly end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
For reference, Storm Shadow missiles are air-launched precision-guided weapons with a range of over 250 kilometers. They are capable of flying at low altitudes at high speeds, using a combination of inertial navigation, GPS, and terrain-following systems.
The British government has not disclosed the number of Storm Shadow missiles it has supplied to Ukraine during the ongoing conflict. The last confirmation of such supplies came from the UK Ministry of Defense in April when Rishi Sunak was the Prime Minister.
Dozens? 200 is already for starters……………….
Agree. I’m thankful to the Brits for anything they provide but dozens?
Each one takes 3-4 days to manufacture and costs £1.5-2m each. The UK has less than a thousand; maybe c.700. In the past year it has donated more than 20% of its inventory to Ukraine.
Only the US can mass produce missiles like these.
Not without imported Canadian parts which will be taxed now with 25%.
I come across this. It’s humourous, but also very true.
Subject: The American Way ANY QUESTIONS?
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River.
Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people paddling and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people paddling. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were paddling.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the paddling team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people paddling the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the paddlers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices, and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to ‘equal the competition’ and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off one paddler, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and cancelled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated paddler was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles), so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.
Sadly, the End.
Here’s something else to think about:
GM has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can’t make money paying American wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter’s results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while GM racks up 9 billion in http://losses.GM folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses…
Reminds me of the U.K. We went from being the second biggest manufacturer of automobiles in the world in the 1950’s to being a minnow today.
I blame it on communist trade unions, Labour governments with their insane taxation polices and the Tories for allowing Labour to fuck up the country every time it gets power.
The Tories have done it again; they got rid of a winner; Boris and kept putting out stupid Labour-friendly polices.
Result being that Nigel Farage’s putler-friendly party took votes off the Tories and let Labour in with only 34% of the vote!