Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
The Russian military has begun using a new type of cruise missiles that may be a copy of the Franco-British Storm Shadow, Ukrainian military analysts said on August 9.
The missile was first used a few days earlier in a strike on a target in the Nikolaev. Initially, Ukrainian military analysts thought that the missile was the S8000 Banderol, an air-launched supersonic cruise missile developed by Russia’s Kronshtadt Group that entered service earlier this year. However, later comparison showed that the missile was completely different.
The Banderol, which is guided via a GLONASS-aided inertial navigation system (INS), has a range of 500 kilometers and carries a warhead weighing 150 g. It was designed to be launched by Orion combat drones and reportedly Mi-28NM attack helicopters.
With no similarities to the Banderol, Ukrainian military analysts speculated that the new Russian missile is a downsized copy of the Storm Shadow.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
The Storm Shadow is a low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed in the 1990s by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. The missile features a GPS-aided INS with a terrain profile matching system. For terminal guidance, it is equipped with an imaging infrared scene-mapping area correlator system.
The maximum range of the Storm Shadow is 560 kilometers. However, Ukraine received the downgraded export version with a range of 250 kilometers. The Ukrainian Air Force has integrated the 1,300 kg cruise missile on its Soviet-era Su-24 fighter bombers.
Russia has already intercepted many Storm Shadows, and in many cases it retrieved the remains of the missiles to study them.
While the new Russian missile appears to have a low-observable design, it certainly is not that similar to the Storm Shadow. The coming days will likely unveil more information on this mysterious missile.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
why to copy a useless shit developed in the 1990s
so you can improve it