BEIJING, After the Russian delegation attending the Seventh International Exhibition of Weapons and Military Equipment held in the Belarus capital of Minsk between July 9-12, the nation is ready to export the Iskander-E short-range ballistic missile and Vasily Kashin from the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies told the Voice of Russia that it's likely that the missile will be sold to China.
Kashin said that Russia is currently discussing the sale of the S-400 surface-to-air missile with China and Belarus. Russia will likely sell the Iskander-E together with the S-400 to both nations if the deals are successful. The Iskander-E was designed to replace the SS-21 Scarab-B Tochka-U tactical missile commissioned by the Soviet military back in 1989.
The Iskander-E could confer an advantage to the People's Liberation Army in the event of any potential conflict with India, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. This is firstly because the missile is very difficult to intercept, as it is capable of making 30G evasive maneuvers and can release decoys during the terminal phase, and because it can hit targets with a very high level of accuracy. Even if the enemy has air supremacy, the Iskander-E can still perform well on the battlefield.
Kashin said that several modifications will be carried out on the Iskander-E if China agrees to purchase the missile from Russia. It can be redesigned as a cruise missile with an attacking range of 2,000 kilometers, for example. As the Soviet Union signed the Treaty for the Elimination of Medium-range Missile with the United States in 1987, Russia cannot make its own version of the Iskander-E cruise missile, however, China is not a signatory.
(PHOTO) Iskander-E – mobile theater ballistic missile system export version, specially designed to meet MTCR restrictions. Range: ~280 km.
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