Ukraine will receive classified information on European-made long-range weapons despite Russian anger at the move, paving the way for Kyiv to make its own versions of the SCALP missile using British and French technology. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham's office said London had agreed to let European defense giant MBDA, which manufactures the missiles, share certain details on British-made components to help Ukraine establish its own production lines inside the war-ravaged country. The United Kingdom first gave Ukraine Storm Shadow missiles—the British equivalent of SCALP—in 2023, and France quickly followed suit with its own donations.
But the sharing of previously secret materials could eventually boost Ukraine's arsenal of weapons able to strike deep into Russian territory, although it would likely take years for Kyiv to start firing domestically produced SCALP missiles. Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone strikes on Russian sites, including commercial warehouses, in recent months as Russia hammers Ukrainian cities with missile and drone attacks, which experts say indicates Moscow is hoping to take advantage of Kyiv's desperate shortage of air defense interceptors like missiles fired by the United States-made Patriot system. Global stocks of Western-manufactured weapons, both to home in on far-off enemy sites and to defend against sophisticated incoming attacks, have been drained by the Ukraine war and the U.S.'s conflict with Iran.
Advanced missiles have long lead times, and factories across the U.S. and Europe have just begun preparing to expand their production lines to meet surging demand for weapons. Russia hit back at the decision on Monday, saying it would add "fuel to the fire" and amounted to the U.K. "participating" in the war.
Burnham, who visited Kyiv on Monday as Ukraine marked its independence day, said the U.K. would continue to back Ukraine "despite Russia's outrageous threats." Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump frustrated Kyiv by rolling back on his pledge to hand over details that would let Ukraine make its own Patriot interceptor missiles. This knowledge is "a hard thing to give away," Trump said in late July.
"People that you give that technology, they can someday turn on you." Just weeks earlier, as Trump met Volodymyr Zelensky at NATO's yearly summit in Turkey, he had told the Ukrainian president that he would "give a license to you to make Patriots." Zelensky separately said the U.S. had granted this permission. Trump said at the time that Ukraine being able to produce its own sophisticated interceptor missiles would curb their requests for more supplies from countries like the U.S. Zelensky's office said on Sunday it was one of the country's "top priorities" to secure licenses to make Patriot missiles inside Ukraine.
The Anglo-French cruise missiles have a publicly stated range of roughly 155 miles, although analysts say it can travel up to 250 miles. It weighs 1,300 kilograms and is designed to hit "hardened" targets, like bunkers. It would be more difficult for the drones Ukraine is currently using to target Russian warehouses and oil refineries to strike these kinds of protected targets.
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