Kiev admits sending cruise missiles to Iran and China

Financial Times ^

[drt1]

Clones of these to appear at a War Zone near you soon.

[cake_crumb]

The black legacy of the Soviet Union continues to haunt the world

[superiorslots]

Chinese will bootleg these into 1000's faster than a new york minute.

The masters of bootlegging.

[Spktyr]

It will take a while for the Chinese to copy them.

The worrisome thing is that China can use it as an always ready nuclear force; their current ICBMs are liquid fueled, and cannot be held in a fueled state for long without needing defuelling and maintenance; so they have to be fueled well before any possible launch time. The Kent missiles (NATO name for the AS-15) are always ready.

As for Iran... Well, congrats, Europe - they can hit Rome now, for sure. Surprise! It's no longer speculation - the AS-15 is a known tested quantity. (Unlike the somewhat unproven Shahab-6, which can theoretically hit London, Oslo, Paris, Berlin and lots of other fun places.)

[Paleo Conservative]

I favor sending cruise missles to Iran especially if they are followed by JDAMs.

[cake_crumb]

"The masters of bootlegging."

Yep.

[ruiner]

Thats exactly how WW1 happened, without the MAD.

[cake_crumb]

Indeed. Congratulations, EUrope.

[superiorslots]

Iran bought 12: means that's all they could afford and because they can't copy them.

China bought 6: means they bought 4 for immediate testing to see how they can improve upon them, and 2 sent off the bootleg labs.

You underestimate the chinese. They will have thousands of improved versions of these in 2-3 years.

[COEXERJ145]

Looks somewhat like a Russian version of our TLAM.

[demsux]

The X-55 has a range of 3,000 km, enough to put Japan within striking range of the Asian continent or to reach Israel from Iran.

With Iran's new "electricity producing" nuclear program, I wouldn't want to be in Israel.

[Spktyr]

I said a while. I was addressing the impression that they were going to have 100,000 out by next Tuesday.

China's been working on LACMs for a while. I expect them to have initial operational capability on something like an AS-15 in two years, tops.

[cake_crumb]

I'd like to hear what Vlad has to say about his puppet government selling this ICBMs to Iran and China.

[TChris]

So, has "bootleg" recently acquired a new definition = "reverse engineer"? The definition of the word has nothing to do with reproducing anything.

(Dictionary.com)

boot·leg
v.

1. To make, sell, or transport (alcoholic liquor) for sale illegally.
2. To produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally: a clandestine outfit that bootlegs compact discs and tapes.

[Spktyr]

It's a cruise missile, not a ICBM.

ICBMs go WAY up in the air, exit the atmosphere, and then come back down - hence the "ballistic" part of their name.

Cruise missiles are like unmanned kamikaze airplanes. They fly to their target in the atmosphere either at high altitude or at low level.