The U.K. Will Help Ukraine Build Long-Range Missiles by Sharing Secret Tech

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced on Monday that the United Kingdom will help Ukraine build its own long-range missiles. The U.K. will share secret technical information about parts used in a powerful missile called the SCALP. Burnham made the announcement while visiting Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, on Ukraine's Independence Day alongside other world leaders.

Defense company MBDA will release details about U.K.-made parts for the SCALP missile to Ukraine. With this information, Ukraine hopes to assemble the weapons itself. However, experts say the missiles won't be ready for combat anytime soon, and they may not solve Ukraine's most urgent problems in the war against Russia.

The SCALP missile is a high-precision weapon that can fly more than 155 miles to hit its target. It is the French-built version of the U.K.'s Storm Shadow missile, and both use technology developed by France and Britain together. The missile is 16.7 feet long, hard to detect on radar, and designed to destroy tough targets like reinforced bunkers and key infrastructure.

Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles are already used by the air forces of Britain, France, and Italy, as well as several other countries. These missiles have been used in past conflicts in Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Ukraine is also in talks with France, which recently agreed to help set up missile assembly lines inside Ukraine so the country can build its own supply.

Experts warn that the news won't help Ukraine right away. Researcher Arun Dawson from King's College London said the missiles probably won't be ready until next year at the earliest. 'What Ukraine needs is protection from Russian ballistic missile attacks,' he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country is already receiving far fewer Patriot missile defense systems, even as Russia is launching more ballistic attacks.

Still, experts say SCALP missiles could give Ukraine a strong long-range attack ability in the future. Dawson explained that Ukraine could use them to destroy the Russian sites that launch ballistic missiles. Matthew Savill, a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, added that missiles like the SCALP are far more powerful than drones, which are slower and less able to destroy buried or hardened targets.

Russia was quick to criticize Britain's announcement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the U.K. of 'fanning the flame' of the war by helping Ukraine. Burnham dismissed this claim with a sharp question: 'Who started the fire?' He made clear that Britain stands firmly on Ukraine's side.

Britain has been supporting Ukraine with missiles since 2023, when it became the first country to give Ukraine longer-range strike weapons. Those Storm Shadow missiles allowed Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russian-held territory, including occupied Crimea. The U.K. is also working with British defense companies to develop cheaper, ground-launched weapons that could strike targets more than 310 miles away while carrying a powerful 496-pound warhead.