Downing Street believed to support weapons’ use but will not say so publicly amid disagreements with US
I thought this had been the situation for a while. Didn’t they publicly back this very briefly before quickly walking it back?
I really hope this changes and Ukraine gets full approval to do what they need to defend themselves but the headline seems misleadingly optimistic.
Someone please jump in to tell me I’m mistaken about this though because I would absolutely love to be.
I thought this had been the situation for a while. Didn’t they publicly back this very briefly before quickly walking it back?
Yes, Starmer said it back in early July. It sounds like the UK then looked to get agreement from the US and France before proceeding and the US have blocked it since then.
You are probably thinking of the use of HIMARS for only very limited use inside Kharkiv
No, he’s correct about Storm Shadow, this is from back in July:
I foresee many more videos of Russian oil refineries in flames, and that makes me smile.
Storm Shadow will not be wasted on oil refineries. They are too expensive. The better target are radars of air defense sites. Those are extremely expensive as well and hard to replace. They also can not be easily targeted by cheaper long range missiles. However more of those missiles can reach deep into Russia, when air defense is in worse shape.
Holy cow… $960,000 per missile!
Thats what the “free” market does to a countries military industry. Lots of corruption.
$1M a shot seems like a lot until you look at what goes into each one, how much development costs, and the environment it is designed for. You don’t need corruption to make these expensive. Also, the are based on 30 year old technology. Rather than being cheaper than new, they tend to be more expensive due to requiring miniature mechanisms which were cutting edge in 199x. And there are no other uses for them in their hardened configuration so you don’t get economy of scale of something like a commercial ship or board. Plus there’s a lot of paperwork and you can’t sell a single piece unless the government approves it. This is so far from a consumer item there isn’t even a way to compare costs.
FWIW, corruption would cost roughly the same price but you’d receive a missile with shoddy components and forged paperwork. Just look at Russia’s army to see the difference in munition reliability.
Those are basically small self flying stealth jets. Just to give you an idea.
Imagine if those missiles were literal.
Meanwhile in Russia, “Heeeey! My already shit vitamin D!”
It’s about time
I’m very sure Ukraine will use those missiles to solely hit military targets unlike those a-holes from ruzzia who aim at schools and hospitals and housing.
As long as Ukraine only eliminates military targets: Give them everything they need, and more. Do it now.
You know what, up till this week I was in total agreement with you. Now, I really don’t care if they use them to attack other targets.
Unfortunately, they’re not a great choice for out aircraft.
