In its war against Russia, Ukraine has been using Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles against Russia. The UK government has provided the missiles made by MBDA to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian forces have been using it against Russian targets. At first, the missile with a 250 km range was used against Russian ships and Russian bases in occupied Ukrainian territories, but later, Ukraine started to fire it inside Russia in November last year.
However, now the missile has become useless after the US president stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine after the failure of talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as per a report by Daily Mail. The US administration has prohibited UK intelligence agencies and military bodies from sharing intelligence provided by the US with Ukraine.
Notably, Trump has stopped all military aid to Ukraine after Zelenskyy rejected his peace proposal, and this includes a halt on intelligence sharing. The Storm Shadow missile is dependent on data provided by US intelligence agencies to target Russian assets, and without that data, it has now become useless for Ukraine.
Storm Shadow missiles, jointly developed by the UK and France, are precision-guided missiles used for deep-strike missions as they can hit targets up to 250km away. In France, it is known as Scalp. The missiles cost around £2 million each.
Ukraine has been able to hit targets deep inside Russia with this missile, taking down critical infrastructure, including bunkers and ammunition stores. US satellite intelligence is required for precision guidance of the missile for effective hits.
Apart from Storm Shadow missiles, Ukraine is also dependent on data from US and other allies for other weapons like High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems or HIMARS, and Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, both supplied by the USA.
Moreover, halt on US intelligence can also result in reduced early warning of incoming missile and drone attacks from Russian army. Ukraine will also not receive information on Russian military movements.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that it was a ‘pause’ in intelligence sharing with Ukraine, adding that it will go away. US may resume providing intelligence to Ukraine if Zelenskyy can convince Trump that he is serious about peace talks, and does not engage in any verbal clash like the last disastrous meeting.
