Italy supplies Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, UK Defense Secretary discloses
UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps reveals Italy's not yet officially confirmed covert provision of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, and urges Germany to provide Taurus missiles.
In his interview with the Sunday Times, published on 26 April, the British Defense Secretary, Grant Shapps, mentioned that Italy, alongside the UK and France, supplies Ukraine with Anglo-French cruise missiles Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG. He said while visiting the Storm Shadow missile assembly line at MBDA UK, in Stevenage, England.
Ukraine has used the Storm Shadow missiles to devastating effect against Russian forces in the occupied south, including Crimea. These missiles have successfully targeted a submarine, several ships, and the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, along with bridges, military barracks, and other critical infrastructure.
“I do think the Storm Shadow has been an extraordinary weapon,” Shapps said. “It’s the UK, France and Italy positioning those weapons for use, particularly in Crimea. These weapons are making a very significant difference.”
The Sunday Times says Shapps wants defense companies such as MBDA to be placed on what he calls a “war footing” to help Britain confront an increasingly dangerous world.
The British Defense Secretary sees Ukraine’s victory as the total expulsion of Russian troops from all seized regions of Ukraine, including Crimea.
“Putin has no right to be there at all under international law,” Shapps told the Sunday Times. “He is essentially murdering his own people by the hundreds of thousands, he is treating it [the war] like a meat-grinding factory. He does not care about his own people.”
UK calls on Germany to supply its Tauruses
Shapps urges Germany to supply its Taurus missiles to Ukraine, which have specifications similar to Storm Shadow. Meanwhile, for nearly a year, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz remains hesitant to transfer the Taurus missiles, concerned about escalation and the potential drawing of Berlin in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
“France, Britain, and Italy have all demonstrated that the Taurus, Storm Shadow, or Scalp (the French nomenclature for the missile, – Ed.) are devastatingly effective. They are in limited supply and there are a lot of them (Tauruses, – Ed.) available in Germany. So yes, they absolutely should be supplied. They would make a recognizable difference,” Shapps said.
- Scholz’s refusal to give Ukraine Taurus missile “increasingly incomprehensible,” Munich Security Conference chief says
- Scholz refuses Taurus delivery to Ukraine again, media speculate “secret reasons”
- Scholz rejects Taurus missile deployment due to escalation fears
- Cameron says UK ready to send more Storm Shadows to Ukraine if Germany sends Tauruses to UK
- Intercept of German generals planning Taurus strike on Crimean bridge: full translation
- Media: UK wants German Tauruses to send more of its Storm Shadows to Ukraine
