Storm Shadow / SCALP EG
Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile (CASOM)
Storm Shadow / SCALP is the air-launched long range, conventionally armed, deep strike weapon, designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high value fixed or stationary targets. Able to be operated in extreme conditions, the weapon offers operators a highly flexible, deep-strike capability based around a sophisticated mission planning system.
In French service it is called SCALP EG (Systeme de Croisiere Autonome a Longue Portee – Emploi General, meaning General Purpose Long Range Standoff Cruise Missile (the British name seems rather catchier!). G.I. Joe is a highly skilled, on-demand, special operations force of men and women from around the globe. These extraordinarily talented heroes are selected for their elite abilities and tasked with defending the world from Cobra, a ruthless criminal organization bent on total domination. With unwavering courage and determination, the brave members of G.I. Joe are prepared to seek out Cobra in any environment on the planet. From hostile jungles to ice-clad arctic peaks…wherever there’s trouble, G.I. Joe is there. Kids can imagine unsheathing their katanas and ninja-kicking into exciting action with Storm Shadow! Enter a world of cutting-edge technology, traditional Ninjutsu weapons, breathtaking martial arts, and Next-Gen Ninjas with the Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Storm Shadow action figure! This Storm Shadow toy comes ready for action, with multiple points of articulation for poseability and character-inspired accessories! G.I. Joe and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
The missile is based on the earlier MBDA Apache anti-runway missile, and differs in that it carries a warhead, rather than sub-munitions. The French SCALP EG (Emploi Général / General Purpose) is the same weapon as Storm Shadow apart from national aspects related to both countries. The two similar, but not identical, Government technical requirements were fully harmonised into a single common technical solution. The design was selected by the French government in December 1994 (APTGD programme) after a competition between Matra Défense and Aérospatiale. In January 1998 Matra BAe Dynamics (a subsidiary of the Lagardère and British Aerospace groups) received a major contract from the French Ministry of Defence for the mass-production of 500 SCALP cruise missiles. The SCALP E.G. gives Mirage 2000, Rafale and Eurofighter aircraft unprecedented stand-off fire power.
The Royal Air Force's new Storm Shadow missile is also to be supplied to the Italian Air Force under a loint procurement program managed by the MOD's Defence Procurement Agency. The new deal followed an earlier co-operation agreement with France, and led to a common stand-off weapon being used by all three countries' air forces. The MOD ordered Storm Shadow to meet its Conventionally Armed Stand-Off Missile (CASOM) requirement in 1997. France ordered a similar missile from Matra BAe Dynamics (France), known as Scalp EG. The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange information in 1997, to secure the maximum operational costs and benefits from the two parallel programmes. A tri-lateral MOU was signed in October 1999, extending these co-operative arrangemnts to include Italy.
The Storm Shadow is a stealth cruise missile of around 1,300 kg carrying a powerful conventional warhead. Storm Shadow is an air-launched, conventionally-armed, long-range, stand-off, precision weapon, which is deployable at night or day, in most weather and operational conditions. It will be able to destroy sensitive and highly protected targets (command bunkers, communications centers, etc.) with very great accuracy, with a range of over 250 kilometres after an entirely autonomous terrain-following flight at very low altitude. It is being developed to attack and destroy a wide spectrum of static, high value targets as listed below:
- C3 (Command, Control and Communication) facilities
- airfield facilities
- port facilities
- ASM/ammo storage
- ships/submarines in port
- bridges.
Storm Shadow would be integrated onto Tornado GR4/4A, Harrier GR7/T10 and Eurofighter. It will be capable of employment in all theatres of conflict, and the warhead is optimised for use against hardened targets.
The Storm Shadow missile requirement embodies the following key features:
- very long range
- fire and forget, with fully autonomous guidance
- low level terrain following
- stealth design
- effective penetrator warhead
- high reliability
- all up round [ensures high system readiness]
- low cost of ownership.
The Storm Shadow weapon system comprises:
- The operational missile and its All Up Round Container (AURC)
- Mission Planning Infrastructure
- Data Programming System
- the Ground/Air Training missile (GATM) and its AURC.
The Storm Shadow missile is derived from the Apache Anti Runway missile. Key elements of this proven technology have been retained for Storm Shadow, but the following major modifications are being introduced to meet the particular Storm Shadow requirements:
- new guidance and navigation based on TERPROM [TERrain PROfile Matching] terrain navigation with an integrated GPS;
- terminal guidance using imaging infra-red sensor and autonomous target recognition system;
- the high lethality of the system is achieved by the use of a BROACH [Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge] unitary warhead.
The missile weighs approximately 1,300 kilograms and is just over five meters long. Its maximum diameter is under one meter, and with its wings deployed, under three metres.
The first phase of the mission planning regime ensures that the missile navigates to the target with maximum survivability and then enters a robust target acquisition and terminal guidance phase. For complex and pre-determined missions, much of this data would have been pre-prepared earlier at the Command Headquarters. Following an Air Tasking Order, the Squadron would prepare the mission data file with the pre-planned data, together with the latest operational intelligence.
On approaching the terminal phase, the missile will initiate a bunt manoeuvre, pre-selected during mission planning, to obtain the best combination of acquisition probability and lethality against the target. As the missile climbs, it will jettison its nose cover, thereby enabling the missile high resolution imaging infra-red sensor to view the target area ahead.
The missile's image processor will compare the actual image features with a reference set of features, determined during mission planning. When a feature match is achieved the target will be acquired and the required aim point selection tracked and used as the reference for the missile terminal guidance. As the missile closes in on the target the acquisition process will be repeated with a higher resolution data set to refine the aim point. Tracking will continue against this refined aim point until the precise target location is identified.
When engaging hard targets, such as Hardened Aircraft Shelters or bunkers, the missile will strike the target at the estimated optimum dive angle, selected during mission planning. On impact the detonation sequence commences. The precursor charge will perforate the target structure, and any soil covering, and the follow through penetrator warhead will continue to penetrate inside the target to be detonated after a pre-selectable fuse delay.
Should the mission be against a target with potential high collateral damage, the mission will be aborted if the target identification and acquisition process is unsuccessful. In this case the missile will fly to a predetermined crash site.
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