In the grey skies over Ukraine, a pair of Su-24 Fencer jets glide low over the treetops. Under their wings hang missiles with a distinctively boxy, angular shape. They pitch up, release the weapons, and bank away. The missiles drop, deploy wings, and vanish—hugging the terrain at 500 mph, invisible to radar, on their way to destroy a bridge or a bunker hundreds of miles away.
This is the Storm Shadow (British name) or SCALP-EG (French name: Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée – Emploi Général).
Manufactured by the European missile giant MBDA, this air-launched cruise missile is the “Long Arm” of the British RAF and French Air Force. It is designed for one purpose: to penetrate heavily defended airspace and destroy high-value hardened targets with surgical precision.
This detailed analysis explores the Storm Shadow capabilities, its unique “BROACH” warhead, stealth characteristics, and its history-altering impact on the battlefield from Iraq to Ukraine.
Design Philosophy: Getting Through the Wall
Most cruise missiles (like Tomahawk) rely on overwhelming numbers. The Storm Shadow relies on Stealth.
Technical Specifications
| Parameter | Specification | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 1,300 kg (2,900 lb) | Heavyweight class |
| Length | 5.1 meters | |
| Range | 560 km+ (350 miles) | Export version (Black Shaheen) is capped at 250 km |
| Speed | Mach 0.8 – 0.95 | Subsonic (1,000 km/h) |
| Guidance | GPS + INS + Terrain Reference (TERPROM) + IIR | Multiple redundant navigation systems |
| Warhead | BROACH (450 kg) | Two-stage penetrator |
| Engine | TRI 60-30 Turbojet | Small, efficient jet engine |
The BROACH Warhead: The Bunker Buster
The defining feature of the Storm Shadow is its BROACH (Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge) warhead. It solves the problem of how to destroy a bunker made of meters of reinforced concrete.
It is a Two-Stage Warhead:
1. Stage 1 (Precursor): A shaped charge in the nose. On impact, this charge detonates, blasting a hole through the soil, concrete, or armor plating.
2. Stage 2 (Follow-Through): The main bomb flies through the hole created by the precursor.
3. Detonation: The main bomb explodes inside the bunker or building.
Effective Against: Command centers, submarine pens, hardened aircraft shelters, and bridges.
Navigation and Terminal Accuracy
How does it find a specific window from 500km away?
1. GPS/INS: Satellite and inertial navigation get it to the general area.
2. TERPROM: Terrain Profile Matching. It uses a radar altimeter to scan the ground below and compares it to a stored 3D map. “I just flew over a hill that is 50m high, I must be here.” This makes it immune to GPS jamming.
3. IIR Terminal Seeker: In the final dive, the missile pops up, jettisons its nose cone cover, and uses an Imaging Infrared Camera. It compares the “picture” it sees with target photos uploaded before the mission. It identifies the target (e.g., a specific ventilation shaft) and steers into it.
Combat History: A Legacy of Destruction
Iraq (2003)
The Royal Air Force fired Storm Shadows from Tornado GR4 jets. They were used to strike Saddam Hussein’s hardened bunkers. It was a baptism by fire, achieving a high success rate.
Libya (2011)
French Rafales and Italian Tornados fired SCALP/Storm Shadows against Gaddafi’s air defenses and bunkers.
Syria (2018)
In response to chemical weapons usage, UK and French forces launched Storm Shadows. Despite heavy Russian air defense presence in Syria, the missiles successfully laid waste to the chemical weapons research center near Damascus.
Ukraine (2023-Present)
The defining chapter. The UK (and later France) donated Storm Shadows to Ukraine.
The Future: FC/ASW
MBDA is already working on the successor: the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW).
Conclusion
The Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG is the premier “kick down the door” weapon for European air forces. It allows a pilot to destroy a strategic target 500km away without ever entering the range of enemy air defenses.
Its performance in Ukraine has proven that even Subsonic missiles, if stealthy and smart enough, can penetrate the densest air Defense networks (like the S-400). It remains the gold standard for long-range conventional precision strike.
Disclaimer: Technical details are based on MBDA product data sheets and public lessons learned from the Ukraine conflict.