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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 08:18 AM Sep 2014

Poland plans to buy missiles from Lockheed

http://www.fayobserver.com/military/poland-plans-to-buy-missiles-from-lockheed/article_901c99b0-6080-5f5a-bf54-fa48434319db.html

Poland plans to buy missiles from Lockheed
Posted: Sunday, September 28, 2014 12:00 am

WARSAW, Poland - Poland hopes to complete a multimillion-dollar deal with U.S. company Lockheed Martin Corp. by November that includescruisemissiles for its F-16 fighter jets, the Polish defense minister said Tuesday.

The plan comes as Poland intensifies efforts to modernize its military given the Russian aggression in Ukraine, something that has added to feelings of insecurity in Eastern Europe.

The U.S. State Department said last week that it has approved the $500 million deal for 40 missiles. It now awaits approval by Congress.

..

Prior to this article I thought cruise missiles cost around $1,000,000.

$500,000,000 / 40 = $12,500,000

Wikipedia sez:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_missiles

Cruise missile

A cruise missile is a guided missile, the major portion of whose flight path to its target (a land-based or sea-based target) is conducted at approximately constant velocity; that relies on the dynamic reaction of air for lift, and upon propulsion forces to balance drag. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy. Modern cruise missiles can travel at supersonic or high subsonic speeds, are self-navigating, and can fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low altitude trajectory. They are distinct from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in that they are used only as weapons and not for reconnaissance. In a cruise missile, the warhead is integrated into the vehicle and the vehicle is always sacrificed in the mission.

Cruise missile designs fundamentally derive from the German V-1 of World War II. Advances in transistor and computer technology have contributed to self-correcting avionic and aeronautical designs that allow missiles to be guided in flight, as opposed to only at launch. These advances developed into guided missiles and guided bombs, and later into the modern cruise missile.

In 2011, it was estimated that a single Tomahawk cruise missile costs US$1,410,000.[1]

..

$1,410,000 does not equal $12,500,000, so someone is lying about the cost of these things. I wonder who it could be:


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Poland plans to buy missiles from Lockheed (Original Post) unhappycamper Sep 2014 OP
Maybe this includes the attaching hardware and fire control system, for each fighter. House of Roberts Sep 2014 #1
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