Rome evaluates 5,031 Apkws II systems to transform cheap rockets into precision weapons and reduce the cost of drone interception. Meanwhile, France and the United Kingdom transfer technology and know-how to Ukraine to produce Storm Shadow cruise missiles
According to what was reported by some specialized defense publications, our Air Force is evaluating the purchase of US technology to transform low-cost unguided missiles into precision weapons. The purpose is known: to have an economical option for shooting down drones as an alternative to using too expensive air-to-air missiles. For this reason, the US Department of State has approved the sale to Italy of 5,031 Apkws II guidance systems, acronym for Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (advanced precision attack weapon system), created together with the British company Bae System. The Apkws is a device that is inserted between the warhead of an unguided missile and its engine; it is equipped with four small folding wings and sensors for buoyancy control. In this way, an effector costing less than one hundred thousand euros can be transformed into a guided weapon. And this, as in the case of missions for the interception and destruction of drones, would make it possible to avoid the use of missiles like the “Amraam” which cost ten times as much. The approval for the sale would also include launchers, warheads, rocket engines and technical support, bringing the potential value of the deal to $364 million, as stated in the US State Department press release. At the time of writing, however, no contract has yet been signed between our Defense and the States, precisely because the technology offered by the Americans is still in the evaluation phase. However, it cannot be an initiative of immediate application, since these are weapons to be installed on board Eurofighter aircraft that have never used them. It will therefore take at least two months, the time taken by the English Royal Air Force, precisely to integrate the Apkws on its Typhoons.
Meanwhile, France and the United Kingdom have decided to provide Ukraine with what is necessary to build Storm Shadow cruise missiles at home. It is a type of missile that is launched from an aircraft up to 250 km away from the target, capable of traveling following the profile of the territory to avoid radars and therefore destroy what was foreseen by the mission. Once again, however, this initiative alone will not change the outcome of the war, while it is certain that it will put into the hands of Zelensky and his technological network some skills and technical knowledge that until now were the prerogative of the West. It is true that missiles such as the Scalp and Storm Shadow have already been supplied to Ukrainian forces and used to strike military targets in Russia. Another consideration concerns the age of the projects: they date back to the 1990s and involve extremely expensive manufacturing and construction, so much so that one effector alone cost around a million pounds. Construction, understood as the assembly of the parts that make up the missile, is only possible after having organized a very complex and slow global supply chain, so much so that to date no more than a few hundred units have been made. Assuming that the projects, i.e. the construction drawings of the mechanical components and electronic circuits, as well as the production cycles are quickly “digested” by the Ukrainian technicians, the need to interpret the documentation and find the so-called “semi-finished” components remains. So much so that, in the best case scenario, a production line could be ready in at least a year. To put it bluntly, in the unfortunate event that the West also enters the war, France and the United Kingdom would also have great difficulty in satisfying the typical demands of war needs. In the electronic boards of a missile there may be components built in Germany, Italy, but also in Taiwan; aluminium, silica and other materials may come from nations that are not in a position to supply them on time. And today Ukraine builds about 70% of the weapons it uses. And it is no different if we consider the American Patriots, which today the USA manufactures in the number of 600 pieces per year with the expectation of reaching 2,000 by 2030. While Russia seems to be able to build at least one hundred ballistic missiles per month.
