French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced that production of the SCALP cruise missile resumed, marking the first new order in 15 years for the Franco-British precision weapon.
The announcement came during Lecornu’s visit on July 9 to MBDA’s site in Stevenage, United Kingdom, alongside British Defence Secretary John Healey. MBDA, a joint venture between France, the UK, Italy, and Germany, produces the SCALP missile—known in the UK as Storm Shadow.
“Supplied to Ukraine, the Franco-British SCALP/Storm Shadow missile has demonstrated its effectiveness in modern high-intensity combat, in decisive situations,” Lecornu said during the visit. He called MBDA “a symbol of Europe’s leading defense industry.”
The SCALP missile has gained global attention over the past year for its battlefield performance in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have used Storm Shadow variants to strike heavily defended Russian military installations and naval command centers, including targets in Crimea. Western analysts credit the missile’s long-range, low-observable design for enabling Ukraine to destroy critical infrastructure and disrupt Russian fleet operations.
Production of SCALP missiles to equip our forces will resume in 2025, 15 years after our last order.
On @MBDA_UK‘s site in Stevenage with my counterpart @JohnHealey_MP, where some of these missiles are produced.
Supplied to Ukraine, the Franco-British SCALP/Storm Shadow missile… pic.twitter.com/Slw52D5Nji
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) July 9, 2025
According to Lecornu, restarting production will ensure that both France and its allies maintain stockpiles of the cruise missile, which has emerged as a key asset in modern warfare.
The SCALP/Storm Shadow is an air-launched, precision-guided cruise missile with a range exceeding 250 kilometers. Designed to penetrate dense air defenses, the missile is capable of striking hardened and high-value targets with high accuracy.
The decision to restart production comes amid growing concerns in Europe about ammunition and missile stockpiles, as governments respond to lessons learned from the Ukraine war. Ukraine’s use of SCALP and Storm Shadow has underscored the importance of maintaining sufficient inventories of advanced stand-off weapons for potential high-intensity conflicts.
In Ukraine, the deployment of SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles has been credited with eliminating several key Russian command posts and damaging Black Sea Fleet assets. Open-source intelligence reports suggest the weapons were instrumental in attacks that resulted in the deaths of senior Russian naval officers.