UK and France to share classified technology so Ukraine can build long-range cruise missiles

The United Kingdom and France confirmed on 24 and 25 August 2026 that they will share classified technology allowing Ukraine to manufacture Anglo-French cruise missiles on its own territory. Defence firm MBDA will release technical details of UK-made parts for the SCALP missile so that Ukrainian industry can assemble the weapons.

The decision was announced during Ukrainian Independence Day events. UK Defence Secretary John Healey, then in Kyiv, stated that the transfer would strengthen Ukraine’s ability to strike at range without depending solely on finished imported munitions.

SCALP is the French designation for the Storm Shadow cruise missile already supplied in limited numbers by both London and Paris. The missile has a range of several hundred kilometres and has been used against high-value Russian targets. Local assembly would increase volume and reduce the logistical burden on Western stockpiles.

The technology transfer covers components previously subject to strict export controls. Officials emphasised that the arrangement remains within existing legal frameworks for defence cooperation and does not constitute a new weapons system. Ukrainian engineers will integrate the released data into production lines already manufacturing other Western-designed munitions under licence.

Russia has repeatedly warned that Western long-range systems supplied to Ukraine cross a red line. The Kremlin has threatened unspecified retaliation against countries that enable deeper Ukrainian strike capacity. The UK and French move therefore carries both military and political risk.

For Ukraine the practical gain is volume and sustainment. Imported missiles arrive in finite batches; domestic production can in principle continue as long as components and skilled labour remain available. The arrangement also deepens industrial integration between Ukrainian defence plants and European manufacturers.

European Commission approval of a further €6.1 billion defence-procurement envelope for Ukraine, announced the same week, provides parallel funding for air-defence systems, ammunition and radars. The missile-technology decision sits inside that broader package of material support.

Implementation timelines have not been made public. Production will depend on the speed with which Ukrainian facilities can absorb the technical data, secure supply chains for non-UK components, and meet quality and safety standards required for cruise-missile assembly.

The step marks a further evolution in Western policy from the supply of finished weapons toward the transfer of production know-how. Whether it changes the battlefield balance will depend on the scale and reliability of the resulting output over the next six to twelve months.