WION New York bureau: Kyiv plans to intensify attacks on Russian military
At 15.30 Brussels time, 9.30 Eastern Daylight time today, it was a pleasure to join the lead presenter of the New York bureau of WION, India’s premier English language global broadcaster for a live, on-air discussion of the missiles that Kiev is said to be urgently seeking in the U.K. According to WION, Vladimir Zelensky has argued that he needs delivery of more Storm Shadow long range air to ground missiles because this will be a game changer in the war.
Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv plans to intensify attacks on Russian military assets | WION News
My response is that the Storm Shadow was first deployed by Kiev more than a year ago and has had only occasional success in getting through the Russian air defenses. As with HIMARS, the Russians have studied these weapons closely, including through examination of debris and of nearly complete war trophies, as a result of which they have devised effective counter measures.
The real potential game changer is not the aforementioned weapons systems but the U.S. stealth missiles known as JASSM, which are produced in either 400 km range versions or 900 km range. Their introduction may change this war, but not in the direction Kiev or Washington intends. If handed over to Ukraine for use on F-16s, these missiles may well provoke a Russian nuclear response, as I have noted in my past two essays on these pages.