Ukraine has released the first official footage of its devastating Storm Shadow missiles in combat

• Ukraine shared images of its aircraft launching Storm Shadow missiles.

• Footage of powerful long-range missiles is extremely rare.

• Storm Shadows were given to Ukraine by the UK and France (which calls them SCALP missiles).

Ukraine has released its first official video of Western Storm Shadow missiles being used in combat.

The Ukrainian Air Force shared images celebrating its 20th anniversary on Sunday.

Buried in the video was footage of Storm Shadow launching from a jet and then flying through the sky.

You can watch the video here:

The video showed a missile with a British flag and one with French branding, using an alternative name for the missile, SCALP, which is common in France.

Ukrainian outlet Defense Express reported that it was the first video showing Storm Shadows deployed in live combat.

It said they appeared to be fired from an Su-24, one of the types of aircraft Ukraine uses to carry the missiles.

Business Insider couldn’t immediately verify these claims, but footage of them in action is very rare.

A 2015 video by missile maker MBDA shows the Storm Shadows in action, but does not specify whether the footage depicts test scenarios or actual warfare.

Ukriane’s military also called it the first official footage to capture a live missile launch.

Storm Shadows are cruise missiles jointly developed by the United Kingdom and France.

Both countries have provided Ukraine with the missiles, and the United Kingdom was the first country to provide Ukraine with cruise missiles when it provided Kiev with its first Storm Shadows in May 2023.

Ukraine has used them for large-scale strikes, including an attack in which those missiles were apparently used to hit the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.

Video footage taken by the Ukrainian Air Force appears to show that attack.

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