France bolsters Ukraine defence with SCALP, Mistral missiles
The French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced the provision of Mistral anti-aircraft missiles and SCALP cruise missiles to Ukraine. Both types of armaments are essential for Ukraine. We present the performance of the donated equipment.
In an interview with the portal Le Journal du Dimanche, Sébastien Lecornu mentioned that he recently signed the transfer to Ukraine of approximately ten SCALP cruise missiles and announced another shipment of Mistral anti-aircraft missiles.
The first weapon will enable targeting strategic locations such as command posts or ammunition depots. At the same time, the Mistral missiles will help Ukraine withstand winter attacks from Russian drones and cruise missiles.
SCALP — French variant of Storm Shadow
The SCALP missiles are a counterpart of the British Storm Shadow, resulting from Franco-British cooperation in the 1990s. While the Storm Shadow is produced in the United Kingdom, the SCALP is manufactured in France.
Structurally, these are stealth technology cruise missiles designed for launch from aircraft. They have a range of about 500 kilometres, which can be reduced to 300 kilometres for foreign customers due to the Missile Technology Control Regime rules.
The missiles weigh approximately 1,300 kilograms, with 450 kilograms being the BROACH (Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge) warhead. The rest of the mass is largely comprised of the turbojet engine and fuel supply. This enables them to achieve subsonic speeds ranging from 972 to 1,100 kilometres per hour.
The multifunctional BROACH warhead consists of two components: a shaped charge for breaching ground or initially damaging the surface of the target and a penetrating combat head equipped with a Multi-Application Fuze Initiation System (MAFIS), which can be delayed by up to 240 milliseconds. This solution is effective, although not as sophisticated as in the TAURUS KEPD 350. The SCALP/Storm Shadow warhead can operate in several modes:
- impact detonation,
- airburst that scatters shrapnel over the area,
- delayed detonation.
Its significant destructive power is enhanced by pinpoint accuracy in all conditions. The guidance system of these missiles, apart from the traditional tandem of inertial and satellite navigation, also includes a fourth-generation infrared sensor (IIR) that perceives the thermal image of the target or terrain. It allows for hitting a specific object and is used for terrain tracking, then compared with the uploaded map. This ensures accurate navigation and is resistant to GPS jamming.
Currently, Ukrainians are using specially modified Su-24 aircraft as carriers for these missiles, but by 2025, French Mirage 2000 jets will join them.
Mistral missiles — effective against drones and cruise missiles
Mistral is a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) produced in its latest version since 2019. It allows for engagement with objects at a distance of up to 7.5 kilometres and altitudes up to 5 kilometres. The missile travels at 3,300 kilometres per hour and destroys the target with a 3-kilogram fragmentation warhead.
The missiles can be launched from a collapsible single launcher or a larger dual launcher, which the Ukrainians often mount on pickups for mobile anti-aircraft groups.
A unique feature of the Mistral is its head, which tracks the thermal image of the target. This allows it to home in on the heated surface of the aircraft and not just the engines, making it immune to flares. The manufacturer, MBDA, stated that 96% of launches resulted in the target being shot down. The downside of this system is its relatively high cost compared to competitors.
