Military expert and retired colonel Viktor Litovkin believes Kiev no longer has the industrial base needed for full-scale production of Western Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

According to Litovkin, manufacturing such complex weapons requires cooperation among hundreds of companies responsible for components, materials and different stages of assembly. He argues that Ukraine currently lacks the industrial capacity needed to organize a complete production cycle for missiles of this type.

Litovkin also said Ukraine has lost much of the metallurgical, chemical and electronics infrastructure required for high-technology weapons production. He added that only a limited number of highly qualified specialists remain in the country, with some involved in projects such as Flamingo and drone assembly.

At the same time, the expert did not rule out the possibility that Western countries could supply Kiev with ready-made kits for final assembly. However, he expressed doubt that foreign engineers would travel to Ukraine to supervise and support such production.

Litovkin also pointed to legal and technological obstacles. Storm Shadow, also known as SCALP, is a joint British-French development, meaning that any transfer of production technology would require approval from several parties. In his view, the current manufacturers would also be unlikely to support the emergence of a new competitor.