Kiev admits sending cruise missiles to Iran and China

Financial Times ^

[naturalized]

Yes. Reread definition no. 2.

[Rebelbase]

The problem is there isn't any delivery vehicle evidence left to analyize after a thermonuclear detonation.

[Spktyr]

Remember that the Ukraine sale was under the Russian puppet government, and the new government appears to be cleaning house.

[Fitzcarraldo]

The problem is there isn't any delivery vehicle evidence left to analyize after a thermonuclear detonation.

good point. We will realize the implications of this if a nuke is ever smuggled into the US and detonated.

[yatros from flatwater]

Check the fas.org database:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/bomber/as-15.htm

[NEBUCHADNEZZAR1961]

And we helped these people last winter for what reason? I do hope the policy changes sometime soon.

[Spktyr]

Depending on how they're programmed, they cruise between .48-.77 Mach (316 - 508mph at 40,000 feet). They can be stopped by conventional antiaircraft missiles and artillery, but they can come in at low levels, below the radar detection threshold - which means that in general you either get lucky and someone eyeballs them first who has the ability to do something about it, or the first you hear about them is when they arrive at their destination. The disadvantage is that they take hours to get anywhere and if some sharp patrol aircraft (hello AWACS) sees them, there is usually time to shoot them down, and they're so slow that a guy with a rifle can bring them down if they're on the deck. To prevent this sort of thing, stealth technology is being applied to cruise missiles to reduce the chances of them getting spotted.

ICBMs (and other purely ballistic missiles) on the other hand, can carry a heavier payload and have a lower flight time (10-20 minutes). The disadvantage is that there is no surprise when you launch an ICBM - the moment it lifts off, it's clearly obvious what it is and that it's been launched (thanks to the dozens of ballistic launch detection sats in orbit) as well as where it came from. Until recently, it didn't matter, because there was no known proven way to shoot down an ICBM and the only "solution" was MAD. That's not the case any more. There is no such thing as a stealth ICBM. (There are stealth MIRV units, but that's another story.)

[Fast1]

The Russians have been busy how about the Squall torpedo they sold the filthy communists in china.

[toddlintown]

Glasnost, Part Deux

[yatros from flatwater]

Hopefully the Phalcon will be circling!

[Grzegorz 246]

Exactly.

[Grzegorz 246]

"And we helped these people last winter for what reason?"

Which people ?

[self_evident]

Why would we want to eliminate the people that eliminated those that sold the missles? Did you miss the Orange Revolution?

[self_evident]

We helped them replace the people who sold the weapons. You want to change that policy???

[nw_arizona_granny]

ping

[NonValueAdded]

How about a tweak to the policy? In the past we've paid billions in essentially blackmail money to the sovs and their components to destroy their first-world weapons. We didn't dare stop for fear that sales such as this one would occur. Our bad. Now it is time to turn up the volume. We say, "Hello! You can either work with us to destroy those weapons or we will take them out ourselves. Either way, no one else gets them. Understand?"

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Although none of the missiles was exported with the nuclear warheads they were designed to carry

Yeah, I'd count on that being true. /sarcasm