Analysis: Ukraine’s New Long-Range Missiles – Born of Necessity, Mother of Invention

Ukraine used to be an arms manufacturer for the former Soviet Union!

"One of the many great ironies that surround Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine is the fact that many of the weapons Moscow’s forces are using started life on the drawing boards of Ukraine when the two countries were part of the Soviet Union.

The T-54/55 and T-64 main battle tanks, which were Russia’s main armored workhorse for decades, were designed by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The T-64 became the basis for the later T-80 variants, also worked on in Kharkiv, used by Russia today. ...

Additionally, many of the rocket motors and other key components for Russia’s strategic nuclear missiles were designed or manufactured in Ukraine by entities such as Yuzhmash in Dnipropetrovsk and Khatron in Kharkiv. ...
suggest that one of the motives for the 2014 partial invasion was to try to secure some of these strategic assets and now, by extension, another motive for the 2022 full-scale invasion. ...

Elements of the Kh-55 family of cruise missiles were designed by the Yuzhnoye State Design Office (YSDO) in Dnipro and, while the complete missile was developed by Moscow’s MKB Raduga design bureau, the missiles went into serial production in the 1980s at the Kharkiv Aviation Plant (KSAMC) with engines provided by Motor Sich. ..."

Analysis: Ukraine’s New Long-Range Missiles – Born of Necessity, Mother of Invention With the West withholding long-range tactical weapons for fear of escalation, Ukraine is rediscovering its arms-maker legacy and developing its own solutions which may let Kyiv strike even deeper.