Storm Shadow - Characteristics

Characteristics

The stealthy missile has a range in excess of 250 kilometres (155 mi), is powered by a turbojet at Mach 0.8 and can be carried by the RAF Tornado GR4, Saab Gripen, Italian Tornado IDS, Dassault Mirage 2000 and Dassault Rafale aircraft. Storm Shadow will be integrated with the Eurofighter Typhoon as part of the Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) in 2014, and it will be fitted to the F-35 Lightning II once that aircraft comes into service. The BROACH warhead features an initial penetrating charge to clear soil or enter a bunker, then a variable delay fuze to control detonation of the main warhead. The missile weighs about 1,300 kilograms (2,866 lb), has a maximum body diameter of 48 centimetres (1.6 ft) and a wingspan of 3 metres (9.8 ft). Intended targets are command, control and communications; airfields; ports and power stations; AMS/ammunition storage; ships/submarines in port; bridges and other high-value strategic targets.

It is a fire and forget missile, programmed before launch. Once launched, the missile cannot be controlled, its target information changed or be self-destructed. Mission planners programme the missile with the target air defences and target. The missile follows a path semi-autonomously, on a low flight path guided by GPS and terrain matching to the area of the target.

Close to the target, the missile climbs and then bunts into a dive. Climbing to altitude is intended to achieve the best probability of target identification and penetration. During the bunt, the nose cone is jettisoned to allow a high resolution infrared camera to observe the target area. The missile then tries to locate its target based upon its targeting information. If it can not, and there is a high risk of collateral damage, it will fly to a crash point instead of risking inaccuracy.