Britain’s decision to join France in transferring classified Storm Shadow blueprints to Ukraine so it can domestically produce the long-range cruise missile will only increase nuclear risks, warns CND.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham made the announcement about the technology transfer during a visit to Kyiv on Monday.
The Storm Shadow is co-produced with France by the multi-national arms company MBDA and has a range of 150 miles (241km). The air-launched missiles also have bunker-busting warheads and are capable of hitting Russian targets in its territory. In November 2024, the British government, in coordination with the US administration, gave permission for Ukraine to use these weapons to hit targets deep inside Russian territory. This was in spite of Russia’s threat to use its nuclear weapons against such long-range attacks.
France already agreed to hand over its own blueprints for the SCALP-EG (its French export name) in July, as part of a wider arms deal that included Rafale fighter jets and interceptor missiles.
On Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry said it had withdrawn its ambassador to London, Andrei Kelin, accusing Britain of choosing a “path of confrontation.” This comes after Russia announced that there would be consequences for attacks on civilian infrastrcutrue by British-made long-range drones. Some reports have suggested that this could mean British drone factories could be attacked by “unknown sources.”
Burnham’s announcement has been interpreted as an attempt by Britain and France to push the US into giving Ukraine its Patriot interceptor technology so it can produce them locally. During July’s NATO summit, Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US would give a licence to produce Patriots only to backtrack on the promise weeks later saying it “a hard thing to give away.”
The reversal coincided with an escalation in the US’s illegal war on Iran in July. That conflict, ongoing since February, has led to a shortage in stocks of both Patriot and Tomahawk as the US and its Gulf allies use them to counter Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. It’s estimated that only 1,000 Patriot missiles remain in US stocks and current annual production is currently 600. Plans are already in place to set up new production lines in Germany and Poland to help replenish their stocks given to Ukraine, while Zelensky is also calling for a line to be set up in Ukraine.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“The British government’s strategy of escalation is very dangerous. We have already seen the nuclear risks from such escalation in 2024 when Russia threatened to use its nuclear weapons against long-range missiles. Burnham needs to end this reckless war-mongering and focus on dialogue and de-escalation.”