Britain clears Storm Shadow missile assembly in Ukraine

Britain has approved the release of classified UK missile technology to help France and Ukraine establish local assembly of the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missile.

Britain has authorised MBDA to release classified technical information on UK components used in the Storm Shadow/SCALP missile family, removing a British-controlled barrier to plans for long-range cruise missiles to be assembled inside Ukraine, the UK Defence Journal understands.

The decision was announced ahead of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s visit to Kyiv on 24 August, his first overseas trip since entering Downing Street. Under the approval, MBDA will be permitted to share protected information covering British elements of the Franco-British missile design so that France and Ukraine can move forward with plans to establish local assembly lines.

Storm Shadow is the British designation for the long-range air-launched cruise missile, while France operates the closely related weapon as SCALP. Both are designed to strike important fixed targets at considerable distance, allowing the launch aircraft to release the weapon well away from the target area before the missile flies towards it at low altitude. The UK became the first country to provide Ukraine with Western long-range strike missiles when it supplied Storm Shadow in 2023.

The latest move goes further than simply transferring completed weapons from existing stocks. By allowing protected British information to be released, London is supporting French and Ukrainian efforts to establish part of the missile’s assembly process inside Ukraine itself.

According to a Downing Street news update, the decision will allow France and Ukraine to proceed with Ukrainian assembly of the missile. It follows efforts by Kyiv and Paris to expand local production of long-range weapons and is intended to give Ukraine greater ability to sustain its strike capability without relying entirely on deliveries of complete missiles from abroad.

The Government said the decision also complements Project Brakestop, a separate UK-led effort to rapidly develop lower-cost advanced long-range strike weapons for Ukraine. That gives British support two distinct missile-related strands: helping Ukraine gain access to the technology needed for local assembly of an established Franco-British cruise missile, while also pursuing newer weapons intended to be produced more cheaply and at greater scale.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “On Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.”

He added: “I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security.”

Burnham is expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and co-chair a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing alongside other leaders attending Ukrainian Independence Day events. Britain and France jointly lead the coalition, while the UK says its support for Ukraine has so far included £25 billion in funding, including £16 billion in military assistance.

Burnham said: “Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve. We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”