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Italy has joined the list of countries that supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles. In his interview with The Times, British Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps confirmed that together with Paris and London, Rome is preparing its SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles for supply to Ukraine for the attacks in Russian rear, in particular in Crimea.
“I think Storm Shadow is an extraordinary weapon. Great Britain, France and Italy are preparing these weapons for use, in particular, in the occupied Crimea,” the British official said.
Shapps also noted that the UK intends to accelerate the production of Storm Shadow missiles in order not only to meet its own needs, but also to supply more missiles to Ukraine.
Previously, the transfer of Storm Shadow from Italy to Ukraine was not officially announced. However, there is no supply that Rome has been carrying out military supplies to the Ukrainian army secretly for a long time.
The Storm Shadow is a cruise missile developed by the UK together with France with the range of more than 250 kilometers. Launched from combat aircraft, the fired missile descends low to the terrain, which complicates its detection by enemy air defense forces.
The SCALP EG/Storm Shadow missiles are in service with the Italian armed forces for decades. According to official data, Italy acquired about 200 such missiles in 1999. It is not reported how many of them can be supplied to the AFU. Italy is unlikely to be able to allocate more than 10-15% of these weapons to Ukraine.
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