16:13 14.04.2018

Turchynov announces large-scale testing of Ukrainian-made cruise missiles

2 min read
Turchynov announces large-scale testing of Ukrainian-made cruise missiles

Large-scale testing of Ukrainian-made cruise missiles will be held at the end of this year, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

"As for the preparation of Ukrainian-made cruise missiles, we will see a launcher and a developed technology for the production of these missiles. Serious tests will be also conducted. They are not state ones, but sufficiently broad-scale, which will be conducted approximately at the end of this year," he told journalists on Friday in the margins of the 11th Kyiv Security Forum.

As reported, on January 30, 2018, Turchynov reported the first successful test of the Ukrainian ground-launched cruise missile, capable of hitting ground and sea targets. "During the tests that were successful, the flight characteristics and operation of the missile systems were checked," he said.

In his words, this is a wholly Ukrainian-made product developed by designers of Kyiv's Luch State Design Bureau in cooperation with other state-owned and private defense enterprises of Ukraine.

According to him, this is a milestone for Ukraine, as not a single cruise missile had been left in Ukraine after the Ukrainian army had undergone disarmament under the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994. "Today's tests mark a new stage of a missile program under which our Armed Forces should get powerful, high-efficiency cruise missiles, which can deliver precise strikes on enemy targets," Turchynov said.

He said that such missiles would be "of important deterrent value against the [Russian] aggressor." In his words, the council, which manages the missile program, has been tasked to "develop not only ground-launched cruise missile complexes, but also sea-and airborne systems."

"The range of our cruise missiles and their warhead type do not violate international agreements signed by Ukraine on this type of weapon," he added.

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