Intact 'Storm Shadow' Missile Recovered By Russian Troops Ignites Speculation On Electronic Warfare Resilience

After Ukraine successfully acquired a shipment of long-range Storm Shadow missiles from the United Kingdom, they have been effectively deployed to strike significant Russian targets of great importance.

The United Kingdom may face unfavorable developments, as Russian troops have reportedly recovered a highly destructive missile, which appears to be "largely undamaged."

According to Dmitry Rogozin, the director of the Tsar's Wolves Military Technical Center, the Russian military, specifically the volunteer detachment BARS-11 and the Tsar's Wolves unit, successfully extracted an almost intact British Storm Shadow cruise missile from the conflict zone, RIA Novosti reported.

"It was only partially destroyed – it fell very well flat. The missile was dismembered into several parts by our technical specialists right on the battlefield, the high-explosive and cumulative parts separately, the control unit separately, the wing was folded for ease of transportation," Rogozin said.

According to Rogozin, the recovered missile possessed highly advanced electronics that endured intense stresses during its descent. The evacuation of this "trophy missile" required a two-day operation.

The missile has now been entrusted to technical specialists for thorough examination of its design and components. Rogozin emphasized that this analysis would enable the Russian defense industry to identify the most effective countermeasures against the Storm Shadow missile.

While this incident marks the first instance of capturing an intact Storm Shadow missile, it is not the initial encounter with either shooting down or retrieving wreckage from these missiles. Russian air defense forces have successfully intercepted and destroyed multiple Storm Shadow missiles since May. However, the recovery of an undamaged missile represents a significant development.

The photographs of the seemingly intact missile have sparked speculation regarding the circumstances of its retrieval, leading to two main theories. Eurasian Times reported one theory suggesting that the missile may have experienced a malfunction and fell on its own, while another proposes that it was intercepted and shot down by the Russian defense system.

Certain military analysts have even pondered the possibility of the missile being brought down through the utilization of Russia's electronic jamming capabilities, especially considering that Russian troops have previously employed electronic warfare (EW) systems against Ukraine's HIMARS rockets and Joint Direct Attack Munition-ER (JDAM-ER) smart precision-guided missiles.

However, it is widely believed that the Storm Shadow missile is designed to withstand hostile electronic jamming, making it immune to such interference.

"Russians have shot down quite a few of these Storm Shadow/SCALP EG missiles in Syria. It might not be the first time they have retrieved a missile intact. However, they are surely projecting it as a big win, which is having the desired effect. The British and the French would be worried, even though they may not have ruled out this outcome before they shipped the missile to Ukraine. It is one risk that is always on the table," a military commentator told EurAsian Times on the condition of anonymity.