Britain opens path to assembling SCALP missiles in Ukraine

The United Kingdom has allowed defense company MBDA to reveal classified information about British components of long-range SCALP missiles. The decision should allow Ukraine and France to advance in establishing lines for local assembly of these missiles in Ukraine.

The UK government announced this on August 24 during Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first overseas visit after taking office. He chose Kyiv for the trip, arriving on Ukraine's Independence Day.

SCALP is the French version of the British Storm Shadow missile. Both missiles are built using shared British and French technologies, so organizing the assembly of SCALP in Ukraine requires London's permission to transfer information about British components.

The British government noted that the decision will allow the French and Ukrainian sides to move forward with organizing missile assembly in Ukraine. At the same time, the official statement specifically refers to local assembly of SCALP, not moving the full production cycle to Ukraine.

The decision complements the British program Project Brakestop, within which London is working on the rapid development of inexpensive modern long-range strike weapons for Ukraine.

In 2023, the United Kingdom became the first country to provide Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles for defensive purposes. Storm Shadow and SCALP have a similar design and are essentially British and French versions of the same weapons family.

While in Kyiv, Burnham is also scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and co-chair a meeting of the "coalition of the willing" dedicated to further support for Ukraine.

Source: UK government