What’s in the news?

• The United Kingdom has announced that it will provide long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, which it has been requesting in a bid to push back invading Russian forces.
• The weaponry is the latest addition to the long list of military aid given to Kyiv by its Western allies. 
• Ukraine has so far received a wide variety of weapons and ammunition, including anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft systems and artillery, since Russia invaded it in February 2022.

What are the capabilities of long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles?

• Storm Shadow is a long-ranged, air-launched, conventionally armed, deep-strike missile, which is manufactured by the France-based MBDA Missile Systems. 
• With a range of more than 250 km, Storm Shadow weighs 1,300 kg and is 5.10m long. It’s capable of being operated day and night in all weathers and designed to destroy high-valued stationary targets such as airbases, radar installations, communications hubs and port facilities. 
• What makes this missile a stealthy weapon is the combination of its long-range, low altitude and supersonic speed.
• Storm Shadow, equipped with the fire and forget technology, also offers high precision deep strike capability as it features a sophisticated navigation system that includes inertial navigation (INS), global positioning system (GPS) and terrain reference navigation for better control over the path.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/uk-long-range-storm-shadow-cruise-missiles-ukraine-8607079/