The Times of London reports that UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles are dodos without US data if London decides to unilaterally allow deep strikes into Russia
Ukraine will not be able to effectively use British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for long-range attacks on Russia without targeting data provided by the US, The Times has reported.
In an article on Saturday, the paper cited five former UK defense secretaries and ex-prime minister Boris Johnson, who argued that London should unilaterally allow Kiev to use its munitions to target internationally recognized Russia territory instead of waiting for approval from Washington. “There is no conceivable case for delay,” Johnson insisted.
Ukraine has been pushing for such permission for months, while Russia has warned that it would amount to direct participation of the West in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
A Storm Shadow missile at Paris Air Show. © Getty Images / Nicolas Economou
The Times noted that “Britain could fire Storm Shadows without US approval or assistance, but they might be intercepted by Russian air defenses or be diverted off-course.”
A UK defense source told the outlet that Storm Shadows, which were jointly developed by UK and France, “probably would not survive in the contested, electronically jammed environment that the Russians have.”
In May, when London first spoke of allowing Ukrainian strikes with Storm Shadow missiles deep inside Russia, Moscow warned that it could target “any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and beyond” in response.
Source X/RT/ToL