UK missiles offer may help Ukraine - but they are not what Zelensky needs most
BBC News
Image source: Reuters
Image caption: Prime Minister Andy Burnham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday
By Jonathan Beale, Defence correspondent
Published 24 August 2026, 13:14 BST
Updated 37 minutes ago
The UK is set to hand over blueprints for its British-French designed Stom Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine – following a similar move from France – allowing Ukraine to produce the weapon domestically. This gesture sends an important signal, demonstrating that some western nations are willing to share their expertise and know-how to aid Ukraine's defence.
However, this alone won't significantly alter the course of the war. Scalp and Storm Shadow missiles have already been provided to Kyiv by both Britain and France, and they've been used to strike military targets inside Russia.
Burnham is set to hand over long-range missile blueprints to Zelensky during his visit to Kyiv.
Published 1 hour ago
The weapons are not new – developed in the 1990s – and expensive, at around £1m each. They rely on complex global supply chains and have been built in peacetime at relatively low rates, in the hundreds, not the thousands.
Even with the blueprints, Ukraine may face challenges sourcing components, a process that could take months or years to manufacture the cruise missiles themselves.
Copying western weapons production in peacetime is not an effective strategy for winning a war, as Nato nations have begun to recognize. Britain and many allies have traditionally produced small quantities of highly advanced, expensive missiles which would deplete quickly in a prolonged conflict.
In 2021, General Ben Hodges, the former head of the US Army in Europe, noted that during a Nato wargame, the UK military ran out of key weapons within days.
A recent shift in mindset is reflected in the UK military no longer purchasing Storm Shadow missiles for itself. Instead, under Project Brakestop, they are developing their own long-range cruise missiles, free of foreign components and at less than half the price of a Storm Shadow. Project Brakestop aims to have a new cruise missile ready by the end of the year, which will be supplied to Ukraine.
Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to produce relatively cheap, mass-produced weapons essential for a long conflict. As Douglas Barrie, IISS Senior Fellow for Military Aerospace, noted:
"The decision to share UK classified information on the MBDA SCALP missiles with Ukraine... is notable. Any impact... will depend on how quickly Ukrainian assembled SCALP cruise missiles can be introduced into service."
At the start of the war, Ukraine's armed forces relied heavily on outdated Soviet-era weaponry. A steady supply of Western weapons helped them adapt, but now they produce 70% of their own arms. The key has been rapid development in drone technology, from small First Person View (FPV) one-way attack drones to larger long-range drones capable of striking deep into Russian territory.