A video shows an ordnance disposal specialist stripping down an intercepted, Western-made Ukrainian projectile Source: RIA Novosti
A video has emerged of a long-range missile donated to Ukraine by the West being disarmed after it was shot down by Russian air defenses.
The UK and France have provided dozens of cruise missiles, which are known as Storm Shadows in the UK and SCALP in France, to Ukraine for use in its conflict with Russia.
RIA Novosti published a three-minute video on Friday showing one of the projectiles being disassembled by a Russian military technician. The footage showed some of the key components of the downed munition, including the rocket engine.
Certain details were blurred in the video, however, and the identity of the technician who was stripping down the weapon was also concealed.
He is one of a team of experts who specialize in rocket engineering, according to RIA Novosti’s report. They study Western arms and formulate protocols on how to neutralize them safely. Those instructions are then shared with other ordnance disposal units.
In the case of the Storm Shadow missiles, the research has the added benefit of giving the Russian military an insight into how they can be better counteracted.
”The missiles are being constantly improved, but the air defense forces are getting better too because we get to study certain parts and algorithms of their work,” the specialist explained.
The news agency suggested that the Storm Shadow in the video had likely malfunctioned due to Russian electronic countermeasures and fell to the ground. The footage shows the missile itself, its nose fairing, the fuse of the explosive payload, and other parts.
