HISTORY
ADM-160 MALD decoy target used on 12 May in the
attack on Luhansk.
had received Storm Shadow cruise missiles,
capable of hitting targets at a range of more
than 250 km. This range is enough to hit virtually
all Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
Wallace praised the scientists and engineers
who made it possible to integrate them onto
older Soviet-era aircraft used by the Ukrainian
Air Force – in this case, the Su-24.
Storm Shadow missile was jointly developed
by France and the UK in the 1990s and entered
service in 2002. The French use the name
SCALP-EG. The missile has a length of 5.1 m,
a span of 3 m and a weight of 1,300 kg. Once
launched, it drops and follows the terrain at low
level. It is powered by a jet engine, with which
it reaches a speed of Mach 0.8–0.9. It is guided
by GPS and target information is entered on the
ground before launch. Once launched, it cannot
be changed. Just before the target, the missile
starts to climb, drops the warhead cover and
is guided by an infrared camera that is hidden
under this cover during approach. Thanks to
it, it recognizes the target it has entered. If it
can’t find it, it aims for an open area to limit
collateral damage. Storm Shadow is designed
to destroy fortified targets like command posts,
airfield shelters, ammunition depots, as well as
ships and bridges. It has a twin warhead – the
first punches a hole in the target, the second
detonates with a delay until inside.
The missiles were successfully deployed by
Ukraine the following day. On Friday May 12,
they were used to destroy a fuel depot in the
city of Luhansk, which until then had been out
of range of Ukrainian weapons. Moreover, the
depot was not destroyed by a direct attack – the
missiles flew in an arc, turned behind Luhansk
and struck unexpectedly from behind, from
the east. Another interesting means supplied
from the West, the ADM-160 MALD deception
targets, were also used in the attack. These
flying decoys amplify their image on radar and
can pretend to be attacking aircraft of various
types, or cruise missiles. They thus draw the
attention of air defenses and allow a real attack
vehicle to stealthily penetrate.
Ben Wallace undoubtedly had a hand in
delivering these powerful weapons to Ukraine.
His colleague Oleksiy Reznikov therefore gave
him a postcard of a Su-24 with Storm Shadow
missiles at a joint meeting. Reznikov published
it on Thursday, May 25, in an unretouched
form. This is strange because the Ukrainian Air
Force tries to remove the aircraft’s identifying
features in all published images. In this case,
both the aircraft number and unit insignia were
left. The postcard is also decorated with a large
Ukrainian Su-24 with Storm Shadow missiles on a postcard signed by British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
July 2023
emblem of the 7th Tactical Air Force Brigade.
It did not take the Russians long to launch
a major missile attack on Sunday May 28 on
the Starokostiantyniv airbase in Khmelnytskyi
region, which is home to this unit. Stranger still,
the Ukrainians, who almost never report their
losses, immediately confirmed the destruction
of five Su-24s. Thanks in part to these oddities,
there was speculation that the destroyed planes
were in fact grounded, unairworthy wrecks, and
the whole action was just a decoy for Russian
missiles.
Drones over the Kremlin
Attacks similar to those on Luhansk have
been taking place all month across the occupied
territory in preparation for the Ukrainian
offensive. In addition, however, drone strikes
deep inside their territory have also attracted
the attention of the Russians. On Wednesday,
May 3, two drones even attacked the Kremlin
directly. Both were reportedly shot down by
air defenses, but one crashed into the dome
of one of the buildings and caused a small
fire. Moscow was also targeted at the end of
the month, on Wednesday May 31. According
to the official Russian statement, eight drones
were attacking, five were shot down and three
were disabled by jammers. What is certain is
that some of the “disabled” or “downed” drones
crashed on homes in an upscale neighborhood
in the south of the Russian capital.
To distract attention, Russian legions operating
in Ukraine also launched attacks across the
border in late May. Their aim is to overthrow
Putin, but these are strange bedfellows who
are close to neo-Nazis. However, they are up to
the task of unleashing chaos in the border area.
The Russian border guards were unable to stop
them, so they occupied several villages near
the border. They had to withdraw troops from
Ukrainian territory and deploy the air force
to dislodge them. However, this did not prove
very successful. An attack by a pair of Su34s on an occupied border guard building was
caught on a security camera, and the Russian
pilots certainly won’t put that mission behind
them. The planes attacked with a ground flight
with unguided bombs and instead of hitting the
building, they properly plowed the field far away
from it.
Despite the intense fighting, both sides
continued to exchange prisoners on a regular
basis. Some of these were also interesting
from the point of view of the air war over
Ukraine. For example, on Saturday, May 6, it
was announced that 45 soldiers had returned to
Ukraine, including 42 defenders of the Azovstal
steelworks in Mariupol. They were exchanged
for three Russian pilots. In this case, therefore,
the ratio for the exchange of prisoners was
one to 15.
INFO Eduard
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