The United Kingdom will share classified technical information with Ukraine to help it manufacture long-range missiles domestically, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday.

Burnham, who visited Kyiv with other international leaders for Ukraine’s Independence Day, said defence company MBDA would provide details on British-made components used in SCALP missiles.

France has separately agreed to help establish missile assembly lines in Ukraine, although it remains unclear when Ukrainian-produced weapons could become operational.

Military analysts said the initiative was unlikely to produce operational missiles soon or address Ukraine’s immediate defence requirements. They suggested its impact would not be felt until next year at the earliest.

The SCALP missile is the French-produced version of the U.K.’s Storm Shadow, an air-launched, high-precision missile with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles). Both use shared French and British technology.

Measuring 5.1 meters (16.7 feet,) the missile is hard to detect and is designed to hit fixed or stationary targets such as hardened bunkers and key infrastructure, according to MBDA. The defense firm says the missile uses an advanced navigation system and is exceptionally accurate.

Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles are in service with the British, French and Italian air forces, as well as other export countries. They have been used in conflicts in Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Britain became the first country to supply longer-range strike weapons to Ukraine in 2023 when it donated a number of Storm Shadow missiles to Kyiv. The missiles gave Ukraine capacity to strike targets in Russia well behind the front lines, as well as in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The U.K. is also helping Ukraine develop low-cost strike weapons in other ways.

Officials have been working with British defense companies to test a new ground-launched strike system that could hit targets more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away while carrying a powerful 225-kilogram (496-pound) warhead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukraine was receiving significantly fewer Patriot air-defence systems as Russian ballistic missile attacks increased. The shortage has been compounded by difficulties in expanding production in the United States and Europe. (Agencies; Photo © AFP/AP)