1/ Andy Burnham's announcement that Ukraine will be given blueprints for the SCALP-EG/Storm Shadow missile has angered Russian warbloggers. They warn that it will increase the need for Russia to strike the West and call for Scotland to be given Russian ballistic missiles. ⬇️
2/ France's President Macron has already granted Ukraine licences to produce the French components of the 250 km-range SCALP-EG/Storm Shadow, as well as Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles for the SAMP/T air defence system and AASM Hammer guided bombs. 3/ 'Military Chronicle' notes the significance of the announcement for improving Ukraine's capabilities, decoupling the supply of advanced weapons from the political in their supplying nations – in effect, insuring against a Reform UK or National Rally takeover: 4/ "Until now, Ukraine has received ready-made Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles from European stockpiles and has been completely dependent on the pace of their production and the political decisions of the suppliers. 5/ "Local assembly potentially allows for the gradual transfer of part of this supply chain to Ukraine and the increase in production to meet Ukrainian needs." 6/ 'Intelligence Diary' explains that "the purpose of local assembly is to remove restrictions on quantity. Britain and France could only provide ready-made missiles from their own limited peacetime stockpiles, but Ukraine needs a large number for its air war with Russia." 7/ "And the transfer of technology removes political risks for the Europeans: they do not need to coordinate each use with the supplier – the product is assembled in Ukraine and used by Ukraine. 8/ "Within a radius of 250 km from Ukraine, the following areas are within range: Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, a significant part of the Voronezh and Rostov regions. Potential targets include military factories, ammunition depots, airfields, railway logistics hubs, and command and… 9/ …control centres in this area – essentially, the supply line to the front. Drones have been used to target these areas, but only a limited number of high-precision missiles with a heavy warhead have been used, depending on the number of missiles supplied." 10/ The author notes that Ukraine faces an operational problem with the missiles, which "require the use of older Su-24Ms, of which Ukraine has few, and the fleet is dwindling." 11/ "Therefore, no matter how many missiles are assembled, only as many as the existing aircraft can carry can be used per sortie. It is possible that Ukraine is counting on the Swedish Gripen, originally designed for European weapons, but Ukraine does not yet have… 12/ …these aircraft, only a framework agreement for future deliveries." However, the author is sceptical that the announcement will amount to anything, calling it "in the same vein as the production of Patriot missiles—it's just a bold statement and nothing more." 13/ "No one will ever give such technology to the Ukrainians, and they already receive these missiles from Britain. It's a statement for show. To support the herd in Ukraine, so they have something to dream about and talk about." 14/ Boris Rozhin agrees that "implementation will take years," but notes that "the political escalation is already underway: Britain and France are moving from supplying weapons to directly creating a Ukrainian long-range industry." 15/ "For Russia, such enterprises, logistics, and foreign components will become obvious military targets. London calls this long-term support. In essence, the West is moving missile production closer to the front lines, and with it, the risks of direct confrontation." 16/ 'Shakespeare' is even more alarmed, and calls for direct military action against Ukraine's European suppliers rather than more vague warnings from the Russian government about "red lines": 17/ "In reality, the Ukrainian regime continues to turn its European "friends" into part of its own military-industrial complex, clearly hoping to protect its production from Russian strikes. 18/ "And, so far, that hope is not misplaced. Despite reports of mysterious explosions at military factories across Europe, this is unlikely to solve the problem. 19/ "Those who for years drew "red lines" and then "demonstrated a willingness to compromise" when those lines were crossed, have brought things to a point where only a direct, REAL threat of a strike on European territory can stop what is happening. 20/ "And if it is not stopped, we will have enormous problems. And not just us. Those who believe they have isolated themselves from our world in gated communities will also face problems. We sincerely hope that this fact will finally reach them, and preferably, not too late." 21/ 'Two Majors' is angry at the Russian government: "This is the result of endlessly declaring grey-brown-crimson lines, vague diplomatic outrage, and the absence of a direct threat to the Western states that support the terrorist regime in the proxy territory of "Ukraine." 22/ "The same "coalition of the willing" gathering in Kyiv should have ended with a mass burial of foreign delegates, not another PR stunt aimed at publicly undermining Russia's reputation." 23/ Maxim Kalashnikov is scornful about the 'warnings' issued by Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, characterising them as toothless: "Need I say that in London they turned a deaf ear to these words? Or that they simply ignored them?" 24/ "As long as not a single strike has been made on any of the British military bases (even overseas ones), and not a single British oil rig has been damaged, Peskov can carry on rambling until the carrots are harvested." 25/ Meanwhile, 'Ramsay' has a novel suggestion: Russia should provide Scottish nationalists with blueprints for the Iskander ballistic missile: 26/ "No, it's time for us to say it too: "We are providing the blueprints for the Iskander missile to the fighters for Scottish freedom. If they happen to hit London, don't be alarmed: these are 'Scottish' missiles, not Russian ones." /end Sources: 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me 🔹 t.me