Britain to Drop Storm Shadow Procurement in Favor of Cheaper Alternatives

The UK Ministry of Defence has decided, as part of its new investment plan, to gradually stop procuring Storm Shadow cruise missiles and replace them with lower-cost long-range strike weapons.

UK Defence Journal reported on this, citing the Defence Investment Plan (DIP).

The new approach is expected to significantly expand the UK’s stockpile of precision-guided weapons while increasing production rates.

The main advantage of the new systems is their cost: each unit will cost almost half as much as a Storm Shadow missile.

Overall, the Ministry of Defence will allocate £300 million to implement this initiative, although this is only an initial investment.

Despite this, the UK will also continue developing the Stratus project, which is intended to become a full replacement for the Storm Shadow and, in addition to aircraft, will also equip surface combat ships.

The missile is being proposed in two versions: an anti-ship version and a strike version for both air and surface platforms.

Additionally, under the Project Brakestop program, three British companies have developed prototypes of new missiles that have already completed flight testing in Scotland.

The participants in the program include MBDA UK with its Crossbow missile, MGI Engineering with the TigerShark project, and Rotron Aerospace with the SkyLance missile. These systems are intended to complement the UK’s arsenal by creating a mix of expensive, highly precise missiles and lower-cost, mass-produced long-range strike weapons.

The UK Ministry of Defence plans to select the winning design for Project Brakestop by the end of the year.

The new missiles are launched from ground-based launchers and are capable of striking targets at ranges exceeding 500 kilometers. They carry a warhead weighing approximately 225 kg and can reach speeds of more than 600 km/h.

A key requirement of the program is the exclusive use of British or other non-U.S. components. This will allow the missiles to be exported or transferred to allied countries without requiring U.S. approval under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Militarnyi previously reported that Ukraine is in talks with France about obtaining a license to manufacture SCALP cruise missiles.