Arms dealers alleged to have peddled about 20 Raduga Kh-55 long-range weapons
A Ukrainian parliamentary deputy has alleged that arms dealers in that country have illegally sold about 20 Raduga Kh-55 long-range cruise missiles on the international market, including six each to China and Iran.
In a letter to newly installed Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, Hrihory Omelchenko alleges that a 2004 investigation into a number of illegal arms deals has "proved that some 20 air-launched Kh-55 and Kh-55M cruise missiles with nuclear capability were exported to third countries" in violation of international treaties. The letter did not elaborate where the remaining eight missiles were sold, according to Russian press reports.
"Six missiles destined for Russia ended up in Iran...and six missiles destined for Russia ended up in China," Omelchenko's letter says, adding that the sales took place in 2000-1. The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office says an investigation into the alleged sales was launched in mid-2004 and that "this year we received new information". Omelchenko, who is also a reserve colonel in Ukraine's intelligence service, alleges that officials from several Ukrainian firms and the national security services profited from the illicit deals.
Hundreds of Kh-55s - the primary armament for Tupolev Tu-95MS and Tu-160 long-range bombers - were left in Ukraine after the nation became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. The missiles remained in the country until 2000, when they were returned to Russia along with several Tu-160s in exchange for writing off the nation's gas debts to Moscow. Russia has been conducting a conversion programme to rebuild many of the weapons as Kh-555s, with conventional warheads used in place of their original 200 kilotonne nuclear charges.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense is raising warnings about the increased threat of cruise missile proliferation. The issue was highlighted in December 2003 in a speech by US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Pentagon planners are working out concepts for theatre-level and nationwide defence against cruise missile attacks.
The alleged Kh-55 sales would not be the first Ukrainian-brokered deals to attract attention for contravening international arms agreements. The USA has previously probed claims that Ukraine sold Kolchug radar systems to Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power.
Source: Flight International
