UK Offers Blueprints for Storm Shadow Cruise Missiles

The UK is set to hand over blueprints for its British-French designed Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, following a similar move from France.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday and handed over the blueprints.

The move sends an important signal that some Western nations are willing to share their expertise and know-how to help Ukraine defend itself.

However, this won't dramatically alter the course of the war. The UK has already provided similar support to other countries, including France.

Scalp and Storm Shadow missiles have been used to hit military targets inside Russia, but they are not new - they were developed in the 1990s and are expensive at around £1m a piece.

The blueprints will allow Ukraine to produce the missile domestically, but it may take months or even years to source components and build the missiles themselves.

Ukraine has shown the world how to produce relatively cheap, mass-produced weapons necessary for a long, protracted conflict. The country has already produced 70% of its own weapons and is on track to build 10 million drones by the end of this year.

The US-made Patriot interceptor is also an important weapon for Ukraine, but it's expensive - at around £3m a missile - and production rates have been slow. The US plans to double production rates from around 600 missiles per annum to 2,000.

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