Storm Shadow

For the fictional character, see Storm Shadow (G.I. Joe)

Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA and used by Britain, France, and Italy. Storm Shadow is the British name for the weapon; in French service it is called SCALP EG (Emploi Général, meaning General Purpose). The missile is based on the earlier MBDA Apache anti-runway missile, and differs in that it carries a warhead, rather than submunitions.

Characteristics

The stealthy missile has a range in excess of 150 mi (250 km), is powered by a turbojet at Mach 0.8 and can be carried by the Tornado GR4, Italian Tornado IDS, Eurofighter Typhoon, Harrier GR7, Dassault Mirage 2000, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Dassault Rafale aircraft. The BROACH warhead features an initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay fuse to control detonation of the main warhead. The missile weighs about 1300 kg has a maximum body diameter of 1 m and a wingspan of 3 m. Intended targets are command, control and communications; airfield facilities; port facilities; AMS/ammunition storage; ships/submarines in ports and bridges.

It is a fire and forget missile, programmed before launch. Once launched, the missile cannot be controlled, its target information changed or be self-destroyed. Mission planners programme the missile with the target air defences and target. The missile follows a path semi-autonomously, on a low flight path guided by GPS and terrain matching to the area of the target.

Close to the target, the missile bunts, climbing to an altitude intended to achieve the best probability of target identification and penetration. During the bunt, the nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high resolution infrared camera to see the target area (ostensibly better visibility is provided by the bunt). The missile then tries to locate its target based upon its targeting information. If it can not and there is a high risk of collateral damage, it will fly to a crash point instead of risking inaccuracy.

This semi-autonomous flight and dual-stage warhead make the missile unique among cruise missiles. A comparable munition, the Tomahawk has similar characteristics, and longer range, but lacks the target-aquisition and concrete-penetration capability of the Storm Shadow.

Matra BAe Dynamics (UK) was the main UK contractor and Matra BAe Dynamics (France) the main French contractor this reduced overheads.

History

The initial contract for Storm Shadow was placed with Matra BAe Dynamics by the UK Ministry of Defence in February 1997. In January 1998, France ordered 500 SCALP missiles.

The first successful fully-guided firing of the STORM SHADOW / SCALP EG took place at the CEL Biscarosse range in France at the end of December 2000. The launching aircraft was a Mirage 2000 N. On May 25, 2001 the first firing from a Tornado took place, from BAE Warton in the UK.

Storm Shadow entered service with the Royal Air Force in 2002. It was first used during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by No. 617 Squadron.

Future development

MBDA are developing a longer range sea-launched variant, to be called SCALP Naval, to be launched from surface and submarines using the A70 version of the SYLVER launcher on the former. The range is to be increased to at least 1200 km according to rumours, thus necessitating the use of A70. This is deemed necessary to make SCALP Naval a credible competitor to the Tomahawk missile.

The Storm Shadow was suggested as part of the RAF's Future Offensive Air System, possibly using a non-penetrating aircraft (e.g. C-130J or A400M) deploying large numbers of the missile. The FOAS study was cancelled in 2005, although the Storm Shadow may still be included in future studies.

Inventory

The following countries have ordered Storm Shadow / SCALP, in these quantities:

: 500 ordered in January 1998 for the French Air Force
: 56 ordered in August 2000 for the Hellenic Air Force
: 200 for the Aeronautica Militare
: Undisclosed number of the variant called Black Shaheen
: 900 for the Royal Air Force

References

External websites