Posted on 01/01/2010 2:36:30 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Indonesia has been buying Chinese C802A anti-ship missiles. The C802A is a 6.8m (21 foot) long, 360mm, 682kg (1,500 pound) missile, with a 165kg (360 pound) warhead. The C802 has a max range of 120 kilometers, and moves along at about 250 meters a second. The French Exocet missile is the same size and performance, but costs twice as much (over a million dollars each, but the manufacturer is known to be flexible on pricing.) The Indonesians see the Chinese missiles as a much better deal, especially since Indonesia is not looking to start a war anytime soon. So why pay premium prices for a premium, battle proven, Exocet. Thailand also went with the C802 when it recently refurbished its 053H class frigates (bought from China in the 1990s), and added the C802 anti-ship missiles to replace the older, and bulkier, SY-1s.
The Exocet has been around for over three decades, has been proven in combat and is known to be reliable. The C802 is known to be less capable than the Exocet, but it looks similar. For a navy that never expects to get into a serious war, that, and a much lower price, is enough to get the sale.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
I didn’t know Walmart had expanded into heavy weapons.
Bernie and LORAL would prefer you forget bout such things as missile guidance systems...AND campaign contributions --also after the fact permits
“For a navy that never expects to get into a serious war”
This is why they can do this. If there was an expectation that these weapons might actually be used the Chinese weaponry wouldn’t be considered.
Maybe because the French were alleged to have helped the Brits defeat/mitigate the Exocet during the Falklands War???
Most modern weapons have built in kill switches that the provider nations could turn off during a war. Any country with a global COMSAT network has such capabilities.
China was probably able to make those sales because of the missile’s performance during the Israeli/Lebanon war in 2006. When a 15 year-old Chinese C-802 missioned killed the Israeli Navy Flagship, the Stealthy Missile Destroyer Hanit. Just 2 missiles broke the Israeli blockade of the south Lebanese coast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Hanit
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