Details of SCALP missile transfer announced – Reuters

11 July, 2023 SCALP cruise missile. The photo is illustrative The conditions for France's announced transfer of SCALP EG cruise missiles to Ukraine and their number were released.

Reuters reported on this. On July 11, Emmanuel Macron stated that France would provide Ukraine with SCALP long-range cruise missiles to help strike the rears of the Russian invaders. "I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike in-depth," Macron shared while declining to specify how many missiles would be sent.

However, a French military-linked source told reporters that the missiles would be transferred from French military stockpiles, adding that it would be a "significant number." The displacement of missiles from the French military reserves means transferring the original version. It is not controlled by export legislation, which limits the sale of weapons with a range of over 300 kilometers.

The operational range of "domestic" missiles is 560 kilometers depending on the flight mode. Another French diplomatic source said that this regards 50 SCALP missiles manufactured by MBDA. Macron also claimed at the summit that the transfer of missiles would align with France's policy of helping Ukraine defend its territory, implying that Paris had received assurances from Kyiv that missiles would not be fired at Russian territory.

"There are guarantees for (restricting) the use of these missiles to internationally-recognized borders of Ukraine," a military source told reporters.

Ukraine provided the same guarantees to the UK before receiving Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

At that time, the Ukrainian government assured that the missiles will be used only to defeat the Russian invasion forces within the sovereign territory of Ukraine and to strike the territory of Russia.