re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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But there’s no doubt Storm Shadows can be fitted to Ukrainian fighters. It would be better to use their Su-27s though to carry them. Storm Shadow is a heavy munition and the heavier the load the faster you burn fuel and their Su-27s can fly much farther with heavier loads. We fixed a toilet to an A-1 in Vietnam the Ukrainians would fly on the wing of that aircraft and hold onto that thing if it meant being able to strike Crimea. They will figure it out in short order.

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I certainly hope you're correct, but I also know that one of the reasons that the UK is getting rid of its Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoons is that they weren't built with the electronic connections to fire Storm Shadow, and the conversion is supposed to be expensive.

But, we figured out how to get a MiG-29 to fire HARM with the pilot using a tablet in the cockpit, so hopefully, that same kind of thing can be done for Storm Shadow. Because, as you say, that thing carries a massive warhead. One hit with it and the Kerch Bridge is history, and Russian bases at Sevastopol and Saky become unusable. A dozen of those would fundamentally change the war, and I've seen estimates that the RAF still has at least 700 of them, and the missile is still in production, so the UK should be able to replace anything it sends to Ukraine.

Look at the size of this missile:




In addition, if I'm reading between the lines properly, it's clear that the UK is fully prepared to sent Eurofighter Typhoons to Ukraine if other NATO members are not prepared to send jets.

It looks like Italy is about to order some more new Typhoons, so again, it's a production line that's still humming along, and the RAF will be able to replace anything it sends to Ukraine.

There was a very long and detailed article in The Drive yesterday covering the feasibility of sending Typhoons to Ukraine and the advantages and disadvantages that the plane would have for Ukraine.

The authors point out that the older Tranche 1 planes have almost no air-to-ground capability, which limits their value to Ukraine but also makes them "less of an escalation," as those planes really couldn't be used to strike targets in Russia.

Anyway, I personally think that the Typhoon is Ukraine's 3rd choice, after the F-16 and the Mirage, but we'll see what happens.