Biden missile move puts UK and French weapons into play
London and Paris have donated Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles to Kyiv, but Washington has blocked their use against targets in Russia.
Although the European cruise missiles are manufactured by missile-maker MBDA, the U.S. controls some of their tech, giving it a voice in their use. | Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
NOVEMBER 18, 2024 8:01 PM CET
BY
JAN CIENSKI,
LAURA KAYALI,
JACOPO BARIGAZZI AND
EMILIO CASALICCHIO
All eyes are on London and Paris after United States President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use American missiles to hit targets inside Russia.
France and the United Kingdom have donated their Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles to Kyiv. So far, London has not received permission from the U.S. to allow them to be used to attack targets in Russia, while Paris remains vague about what Ukrainians could do.
Although the European cruise missiles are manufactured by missile-maker MBDA, the U.S. controls some of the company's tech, giving it a voice in their use.
Both the French and U.K. government have previously indicated a willingness to approve Ukrainian use against targets in Russia of the cruise missiles they have supplied,” said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at London’s Royal United Services Institute. “However, both rely on updated targeting data that probably comes from the U.S., meaning that they too have been blocked from Ukrainian use.”
Until now both the U.S. and the European missiles have been used against targets inside Russian-occupied Ukraine, including the
Russian Black Sea fleet that was based in Crimea before being forced to flee to Russian ports further away from the fighting.
France has given several dozen SCALP missiles to Kyiv. Two French officials said Paris doesn’t need Washington’s approval to let Ukrainians use them, but so far there is no sign of Kyiv using SCALPs on targets inside Russia.
On Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot echoed French President Emmanuel Macron’s position on “strategic ambiguity.”
“We openly said that [allowing Ukraine to hit inside Russia] was an option we would consider, if we were to authorize strikes on targets from which the Russians attack Ukrainian territory,” he told reporters in Brussels, speaking ahead of a European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting. “So, nothing new under the sun.”
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Rio de Janeiro overnight on Monday, Macron said he thought President Joe Biden made "a good decision" in allowing Ukraine use American-made to strike inside Russia.
Pressed on whether the U.K. government will follow Biden’s move on long-range missiles, a No. 10 Downing Street spokesperson said the U.K. had “been consistent throughout that providing specific details on operational matters would only serve to benefit [Russian President Vladimir] Putin during an ongoing illegal war.”
The spokesperson added: “It has always been the case we work closely with our allies and engage to ensure that strategically we are providing the support that Ukraine needs, and we do that in consultation both with Ukraine and with each other as allies.”
Italy has also
donated SCALP missiles, but it has long made clear it will not allow them to be used inside Russia.
“We’ll continue to follow the line that we have always followed,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
Joe Biden’s move got wider European support. | Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images
Biden’s move got wider European support.
“I have been saying, once and again, that Ukrainians should be able to use the arms we provide to them not only to stop the arrows, but also to be able to hit the archers,” said the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell.
It is also increasing pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to rethink his adamant refusal to supply Ukraine with its bunker-buster Taurus cruise missiles. So far,
Scholz is not budging.
“There are certain limits for the chancellor,” his spokesperson said. “He does not want these long-range weapons to be delivered. This position will not change.”
Ukraine has been
pleading for months for its allies to relax restrictions on using the missiles. Even though that’s now happened, it’s not clear it will have a significant impact on the war.
“The relaxation of range limits for Ukraine’s usage of U.S. ATACMs follows the overall pattern of America’s approach to this war: To make sure Ukraine cannot inflict significant damage on Russia ... but to allow small increases in hardware provision and their usage over extended periods of time,” said James Nixey, director of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Program. “The drip feed continues.”
“The U.K. and France don’t need much encouragement to follow suit. Germany is still sitting back,” he added.
Destructive capabilities
Ukraine does have its own long-range missiles and is developing more, and also regularly hits Russian targets with its drones. But the Western weapons provide a precise and powerful punch that Kyiv so far lacks.
Strikes are not made with words ... The missiles will speak for themselves,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
said over the weekend.
The American ATACMS, built by Lockheed Martin and in service since 1991, is a ground-launched ballistic missile with a range of about 300 kilometers. It can carry two types of warhead: cluster munitions that send bomblets scattering across the target zone, and a 214 kilogram unitary warhead used for hardened facilities.
Ukraine has been using them since 2023, initially being supplied with the shorter range M39 Block variant.
The Storm Shadow/SCALP and Taurus cruise missiles are quite similar.
Both are launched from fighter jets, are around 5 meters long, and weigh about the same: 1,300 kg for the Storm Shadow/SCALP and 1,400 kg for the Taurus. Each has a range of about 500 kilometers and very similar warheads — 450 kg for Storm Shadow/SCALP and 461 kg for Taurus.
However, Taurus’ MEPHISTO warhead is well suited to blowing up multilayered or buried targets, which would make it useful against the Kerch Strait Bridge that links Russia to Crimea.