The Storm Shadow is a Franco-British low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA.

[citation needed] France, the UK and Italy are together developing the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) to replace SCALP/Storm Shadow and each nation's respective anti-ship missiles by 2028 and 2034.

During the final maneuver, the nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high resolution thermographic camera (infrared homing) to observe the target area.

[20] In 2016, it was announced that Storm Shadow would be refurbished under the Selective Precision Effects At Range 4 (SPEAR 4) missile project,[21][22] with the upgrade being completed in 2022.

[23] Some reports suggest a reduced capability version complying with Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) restrictions was created for export, for example to the United Arab Emirates.

[34] The first successful fully guided firing of the Storm Shadow/SCALP EG took place at the CEL Biscarosse range in France at the end of December 2000[12] from a Mirage 2000N.

The first flight of Storm Shadow missiles on the Eurofighter Typhoon took place on 27 November 2013 at Decimomannu Air Base in Italy, and was performed by Alenia Aermacchi using instrumented production aircraft 2.

Targets included the Al Jufra Air Base,[46] and a military bunker in Sirte, the home town of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

[50] In April 2018 the UK Government announced they used Storm Shadow missiles deployed by Panavia Tornado GR4s to strike a chemical weapon facility in Syria.

[55] In response, the Russian Ministry of Defence, during a press conference in Moscow, presented parts of what they claimed was a downed Storm Shadow missile.

[56] It has been suggested that Storm Shadows, deployed by either Emirati Mirage 2000s or Egyptian Rafales, could have been used in the July 2020 airstrike against Al-Watiya Air Base during the Second Libyan Civil War.

[64][65] The grant of Storm Shadow missiles is a significant boost to the Ukrainian military, as they are capable of striking targets at much longer ranges than had previously been possible, including command-and-control nodes and logistics points in occupied Crimea to interrupt Russia's ability to support the frontline.

[71] Russia claimed Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles to strike industrial sites in Luhansk on 13 May 2023, just two days after their delivery had been announced.

[72] According to a report by Russian news outlet Izvestia, the cruise missiles are launched from specially modified Su-24 strike aircraft and fly under the cover of MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters equipped with AGM-88 HARMs.

[73] Ukraine's Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov confirmed the Su-24 as the Ukrainian Air Force's Storm Shadow launch platform, tweeting a photo of a Su-24MR with a missile on each of its inboard underwing pylons.

[81] On 22 June, the Chonhar road bridge connecting Crimea with Kherson Oblast was struck by a Storm Shadow missile to interrupt Russian logistics.

TASS claimed Russian forces had shot it down and recovered the wreckage to study the missile's design and help develop countermeasures to it.

[100][101][102] At a news conference on 28 May 2024, French President Macron said he permitted Ukraine to use SCALP missiles to strike targets inside Russia, a major departure from previous guidelines that restricted the use of foreign-supplied weapons only to occupied territory.

[104] On 25 September 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that if attacked with conventional weapons Russia would consider a nuclear retaliation,[105] in an apparent deviation from the no first use doctrine.

It also follows the Biden administration's decision to give Ukraine the green light to use US-made long-range missiles inside Russia earlier this week.

[111][112] Developed by France for export to the United Arab Emirates for use with its Mirage 2000, modifications were made to reduce the range reportedly to 290 km (160 nmi; 180 mi) in order to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime guidelines.

[36] In 2006, MBDA France[113] began the development of a more potent deep strike naval cruise missile to be deployed on a new series of French warships and submarines for land-attack operations in order to complement the SCALP/Storm Shadow.

[120] Despite the fact that it was previously called SCALP Naval, it is not a variant of the Storm Shadow, has no stealth shaping, but is a more conventional, longer range sea-launched cruise missile, very similar to Tomahawk.