SCALP Missile

Category: International Relations — Defence Technology

SCALP-EG is a long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed through European defence cooperation. It is known in British service as Storm Shadow.

Key facts

  • Developers: MBDA and associated European defence partners.

  • Type: Air-launched, conventionally armed cruise missile.

  • Role: Precision strikes against high-value or heavily defended targets.

  • It uses a combination of navigation and guidance technologies to reach its intended target.

  • Its low-altitude flight profile and guidance system are designed to help it penetrate air-defence environments.

Strategic significance

  • Enables attacks on targets at a distance from the launch aircraft.

  • Supports precision-strike capabilities.

  • Has been supplied to countries including the United Kingdom, France and Ukraine.

  • Its use in conflicts illustrates the importance of stand-off weapons in modern warfare.

UPSC key pointers

  • SCALP-EG is a cruise missile, not a ballistic missile.

  • Storm Shadow is the British designation associated with SCALP-EG.

  • Cruise missiles generally sustain powered flight over much of their trajectory, unlike ballistic missiles.

  • The missile is associated with European defence cooperation.