Controversy over Storm Shadow use, new US military aid package. Weekly military review

New US military assistance package

As the NATO summit came to a close, the United States announced a new $225 million package of arms assistance for Ukraine. This package meets the immediate needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, primarily in the area of air defense. It includes missiles for the NASAMS system, as well as ammunition for artillery, HIMARS, 155 mm and 105 mm guns, anti-tank weapons, Javelin, TOW, AT4, Stinger man-portable air defense systems, and ammunition for small arms.

But the main thing in the package is one Patriot battery, which will be the second battery from the United States. And if all the promises are fulfilled, including deliveries from Romania and the Netherlands, Kyiv will have a total of 8 Patriot systems. Usually, one Patriot battery costs somewhere in the range of one billion dollars, but here it is $225 million for everything. This can be explained by the fact that all these weapons are taken from the US Defense Department's stockpile, which means they are faster and cheaper than new models. And missiles for the Patriot are included in other packages. In particular, in the $2 billion package that was announced earlier, which included the production of a significant number of missiles for both Patriot and NASAMS.

However, the issue here is not only the number of weapons, but also the ability to use them to their fullest potential in accordance with technical and tactical capabilities. With Patriot, everything seems clear: Ukraine shoots down Russian missiles, and even over Russian territory. But now Ukraine's military and political leadership wants the United States to lift restrictions on the use of other weapons deep into Russian territory. We are talking about the ATACMS with a range of 300 kilometers and cluster munitions. This is an ideal weapon for destroying Russian aircraft at airfields and air defense systems, as well as forces that can accumulate in operational depth to prepare offensive actions. But for now, Ukraine's main partner is unshakable.

It was interesting to listen to US President Joe Biden's press conference following the NATO summit, when he was asked whether he would allow Ukraine to use American long-range weapons to strike military targets deep in Russia. And Biden replied that the US military does not see the feasibility of this, but the US has allowed the use of American weapons in the border regions of Russia, that is, HIMARS up to 100 kilometers. Biden said that he follows the advice of the chief of staff, as well as the defense minister and intelligence officials, and it is decided on a daily basis what the Ukrainian troops should do and what they should not do, as well as how far they can go.

There is no logic here, because, in my opinion, it would be much more logical for Ukraine to go much further than we are now and destroy all the targets that pose a threat. And the logic here would be to save lives of both military and civilians, because the Russian enemy would have significantly fewer opportunities to attack.

Controversy over using Storm Shadow

And then there is the debate over the use of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. These missiles have already destroyed a significant number of Russian air defense systems and radars in Crimea, and even a submarine and a ship that were undergoing repairs. The range of 300 kilometers is the optimal range that allows Ukraine to use the full potential of this weapon. Regarding Storm Shadow, on July 10, Espreso reported that the UK has no restrictions on its missiles being used deep into Russian territory. The new British prime minister said this.

But the situation changed during the day. The British newspaper Telegraph published an article stating that the UK did not actually give Ukraine permission to fire Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory. This was explained to Telegraph correspondents by the British Ministry of Defense and reminded that the permission only applies to the possibility of using these missiles in Crimea, because if they hit Russia, it will lead to an escalation and could draw the UK into a conflict with Russia. In my opinion, the situation is not adequate in terms of Ukraine's needs.

And now we have another report, which talks about the position of the British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy. He said that London is considering Ukraine's request to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles against targets deep in the Russian Federation.

I hope that these 'red lines' in the minds of our partners will be overcome, because past practice has proven that the theory of so-called controlled escalation in the war with Russia does not look effective. Fundamental and significant changes are needed here.

Development of drone and electronic warfare detectors

And next, we will talk about confronting Russia, where it had an advantage for some time. We will talk about electronic warfare systems. In a short period of time, Ukraine has also developed trench EW, object EW, and dome EW.

Serhiy Beskrestnov, call sign Flash, a military specialist in radio technology, said that almost the entire segment of domestic trench electronic warfare is produced by the so-called garage military-industrial complex, and it is more a matter of scale and mass production. Trench EW is assembled by dozens or even hundreds of small production facilities located throughout the country. And imagine that such production operates according to standard commercial principles, despite the fact that it is a small enterprise. That is, this company has a warehouse of spare parts that are purchased based on forecasts and current orders.

The military expert noted that the state's help is very much needed in the production of electronic warfare because private entrepreneurs primarily count money. No one will invest a lot of money, for example, in a warehouse. Because if there is a truce tomorrow or the war ends, then a private entrepreneur risks being left with these balances worth a significant amount. Accordingly, Ukraine has to create a stock of modules for certain frequencies at its own expense.

For example, a week ago we learned about Russia's new frequency in Ocheretyne, which was hard news because they literally organized a "safari" for Ukrainian soldiers. Every day, Russia attacked about 10-20 Ukrainian vehicles, it was terrible, because we do not have trench EW of this range. Now, Ukrainian producers have placed appropriate orders to companies.

Beskrestnov noted that today there are 3-4 devices (technical devices) that work as drone detectors. Among them, the first is a product called Tsukorok, which is very popular, and the waiting list for it is about 3-4 months. It should be understood that Tsukorok detects only Russian aircraft-type drones, meaning that it does not see FPV drones. However, it can see Mavic and reconnaissance UAVs, which is important for Ukraine. We understand that before an Iskander strike, as we saw at the airfields of Myrhorod and Poltava, a Russian reconnaissance drone always flies around. If all Ukrainian soldiers have such Tsukorok detectors, they will understand that after a reconnaissance vehicle flies around, they should expect a potential enemy attack. Tsukorok also sees Lancets, which is important for Ukrainian soldiers working in stationary positions, for example, artillery. And for infantry, drone detectors should be very simple, so as not to analyze the spectra, while Tsukorok shows on the screen what is flying, which is very convenient.

Flash added that we have other devices as well. There is a very high-quality detector against FPV drones that the Ukrainian military has developed, but it is still a secret. Its name, how it works, and the frequencies it operates on are not disclosed, because the enemy may find out and come up with something in response. This product is being spread through military channels, so it is the military that knows how and where to order it. Other drones also exist. However, there is a problem with the lack of detectors for DJI Mavic drones, although Tsukorok works against them, but not very far, no more than 200 meters. We need to detect the drone from a distance of 1-2 km.