STORM SHADOW MISSILES
16th September, 2023
Security
Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.
Context
- British-made Storm Shadow missiles were used in a Ukrainian strike that damaged a Russian submarine and ship at a major naval port in Crimea.
The Missile and its characteristics
- The Storm Shadow is a Franco-British low-observable, long-range, stealth air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994.
- "Storm Shadow" is the weapon's British name; in France it is called SCALP-EG.
- The missile is based on the French-developed Apache anti-runway cruise missile but differs in that it carries a unitary warhead instead of cluster munitions.
- The missile weighs about 1,300 kilograms with a conventional warhead of 450 kilograms.
- It has a maximum body diameter of 48 centimetres and a wingspan of three metres.
- It is propelled at Mach 0.8 by a Microturbo TRI 60-30 Turbojet Engine and has a range of approximately 560 km.
- The missile is Fire and Forget, programmed before launch.
- Once launched, it cannot be controlled or commanded to self-destroy and its target information cannot be changed.
- The missile follows a path semi-autonomously, on a low flight path guided by GPS and terrain mapping to the target area.
PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Consider the following statements with reference to Storm Shadow Missile? 1. It is a stealth air-launched cruise missile. 2. It cannot be controlled or commanded to self-destroy and its target information cannot be changed. 3. It carries cluster munitions. 4. It has a range of approximately 1000 kms. How many of the above are correct? A) Only 1 B) Only 2 C) All 3 D) All Four Answer: B) Only 2. Statements 1 and 2 are correct. |