SCALP / Storm Shadow / MdCN

I suspect every component would have to be brand new given the age of the previous missiles. I would also think they would probably aim for lower production costs and time.
 
Big moves to fully onshore components. Hopefully successful, but keeping such expensive business alive is going to require regular orders and government credit.
 
Josh_TN said:
I suspect every component would have to be brand new given the age of the previous missiles. I would also think they would probably aim for lower production costs and time.
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zen said:
Big moves to fully onshore components. Hopefully successful, but keeping such expensive business alive is going to require regular orders and government credit.
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And no doubt Mk-2 Storm Shadow will be ITAR-free.
 

France Launches SCALP Mk2 Cruise Missile Development to Strengthen Long-Range Precision Strike​

thedefensewatch.com

France Launches SCALP Mk2 Cruise Missile Development to Strengthen Long-Range Precision Strike

France begins development of the SCALP Mk2 cruise missile, enhancing guidance and targeting under a DGA and OCCAr managed program.
thedefensewatch.com thedefensewatch.com
According to French defense authorities, the upgraded missile will deliver improved guidance, targeting accuracy, and target acquisition performance, ensuring relevance against modern and future air defense environments.
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Not really sure about the veracity of this site but:

thedefensewatch.com

SCALP Mk2 Cruise Missile

SCALP Mk2 is France’s next generation long range cruise missile, designed for deep strike missions with advanced guidance, stealth shaping, and hardened target defeat.
thedefensewatch.com thedefensewatch.com
RangeOver 1,000 km estimated
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Ukraine seems to have a fair number of SCALP Stormshadow in inventory. There have been several strikes that seemed to use a half dozen to a dozen at once against a high priority target.
 
Has Stormshadow production of new replacement rounds reached full rate yet?
 
NMaude said:
Has Stormshadow production of new replacement rounds reached full rate yet?
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Production is supposed to be ramping up but I can find no hard numbers (unsurprisingly). My guess is that with production resumed, France and UK are willing to let their current inventories run down somewhat, even if there is a short period of relatively low numbers. There’s a lot less pressure now that the total availability is not a fixed number - you can play games with “well we won’t need these for a year at least” or “these needed recertification anyway; if we dump them now we can use that money for new builds”.

I had not realized production was already active now until recently; that alone would explain the modest numbers we are seeing. Even a couple hundred a year probably means that’s a hundred or more older models you are willing to part with.
 
In Ukrainian usage, these used to be launched from Su-24 originally. But I have a hard time believing any of those are still around. Did the Mirage have that capability? The donations are pretty low, but even a half dozen would probably be capable of launching the numbers we are seeing.
 
Josh_TN said:
Did the Mirage have that capability?
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I wouldn't be surprised if they do have the capability.

It has just occurred to me that the UK and France should develop a ground-launched version of the Stormshadow.
 
Josh_TN said:
In Ukrainian usage, these used to be launched from Su-24 originally. But I have a hard time believing any of those are still around. Did the Mirage have that capability? The donations are pretty low, but even a half dozen would probably be capable of launching the numbers we are seeing.
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The first batch of Mirage 2000s transferred in 2025 were standard -5Fs, which are pure air-to-air fighters. There was talk that later transfers might get air-to-ground capability, but it's not clear if that has happened.

It seems likely to me that the March and April Storm Shadow strikes were launched using Su-24s. But it also seems like they need quite a lot of time between operations, so they may be patching up some very battered aircraft.
 
It seems to me some kind of partial F-16 integration will have to happen eventually, assuming that it has not already.
 
Josh_TN said:
In Ukrainian usage, these used to be launched from Su-24 originally. But I have a hard time believing any of those are still around. Did the Mirage have that capability? The donations are pretty low, but even a half dozen would probably be capable of launching the numbers we are seeing.
Click to expand...
From what I understand the Su-24s Ukraine had operational at the beginning of the war were only a fraction of the total airframes they had in inventory with the remainder being in various stages of disrepair. The same applies to MiG-29 and Su-27, their other two major Soviet airplanes in their inventory. After the war started there was a massive effort to examine all airframes and bring back to service what they could and cannibalize the rest. There were some interesting photos of MiG-29s brought back that looked pretty rough (like paint peeling and so on), but otherwise functional. As a result at some point during the war (I think a year or two down) they announced that they actually had more operational aircraft (and I think this was particularly for Su-24) than at the start of the war. In addition, at one point when Kazakhstan sold off a significant (if not all?) of their remaining Soviet aircraft, the US bought them for spare parts for Ukraine.

Of course you have combat loses as a factor, but I think Su-24 losses were bigger at the start of the war, when they were used as tactical bombers and decreased later on when they received stand-off capabilities with the Storm Shadow / SCALP and gliding bombs.

So while their numbers probably peaked around a year into the war then gradually decreased due to combat losses and wear (though I'm sure that in wartime all maintenance schedules are somewhat flexible) but overall I wouldn't be surprised if they still have some flying.

In anyway, considering the Storm Shadow / SCALP production like was restarted it would be smart to integrate it in anything Ukraine is flying and especially on their Mirage 2000s and F-16s - it can't be harder than integrating it on the Su-24 and I'm sure it is being done.
 
I had thought that the Su-27 and Su-24 fleets were especially depleted, because I do not think any NATO members had any examples where as there were MiG-29 replacements. But perhaps a small force soldiers on.

F-16 integration seems the way to go, since it is likely the bulk of the active force by now and probably the airframes with the most life left. Given how quickly Stormshadow was integrated with Su-24, I would actually think it already was integrated with at least some F-16s by now (though probably using some kind of partial integration/middleware solution).
 

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