Tomorrow you will watch the destruction of an American Aircraft Carrier

Northeast Intelligence Network ^ | 03/29/04 | Source

[Rightone]

Arabic posting:

[Lancey Howard]

Could be a diversion.
Of course, these whacko "Arabic" sites can post this kind of stuff every day just to get America to waste resources chasing down the rumors, beefing up security, etc., etc. Meanwhile, I certainly hope our freelance assassination patrols are still killing every terrorist scumbag they lay eyes on.

[TomGuy]

Is this the same islamofascist bunch who were saying the black wind would wipe out America the first of February? or was it the first of March?

There have been reports that al-Qaeda has 15-20 vessels and intends to become involved in attacks from the sea. I haven't read any reports as to exactly what kinds of vessels they have.

This threat on the USS Kitty Hawk would depend on its location. If it is in or near port, it would be a target. If it is at sea, its being a target is suspect.

[demlosers]

What part of the world is Kitty Hawk in?

IIRC, the Kitty Hawk home port is Yokosuka, Japan.

[Fitzcarraldo]

A network of them could be laid out on the ocean bottom under likely routes...

[CGASMIA68]

Although this references the USS Kitty Hawk specifically, it may very well be a generic threat against any large US naval vessel. The references the the dream and visions are especially concerning given that the events of 9/11 were presented within similar metaphorical constructs.

[Timocrat]

Hope she keeps away from oil tankers and LNG carriers those can be crowded shipping lanes.

[Belisaurius]

Unless it's in port and the jihadists have a spare LNG tanker handy.

[PokeyJoe]

what in AQ's arsenal could possibly get close enough to an aircraft carrier that could destroy it?

A 727 (civilian colors) from Africa loaded with fuel and explosives.

Remember the damage caused to the ship when one missle cooked off under Senator McCain's aircraft?

[GeronL]

Your right, but the headline would be 'US Carrier downs airliners, 1,000 dead'.

[GeronL]

I think I read that book... 'Final Flight'??

[Bullish]

With modern sonar the "mini-sub" could never even get within 5 miles of a carrier.

[Petronski]

How about staggered aircraft squawking as US aircraft in distress, but instead each carrying multiple, belly-launched Silkworm missiles?

Time it right and success is almost automatic.

[USNBandit]

There are a couple reasons a carrier will be hard to target, unless it is in port.
1. As a pilot, I never found the ship where it was supposed to be for the recovery.
2. No matter how good the weather is in an area of ocean the ship finds the only squall and drives straight into it.

[Richard Kimball]

Kill me and read my entrails: you will get information at least as accurate.

No thanks. I hear that Osama's entrails, on the other hand, will make very interesting reading.

[HitmanLV]

Harry,

A good plan, I suppose. Of course, those suitcase nukes I keep hearing about, without maintenence, would have become large doorstops sometime in the mid 1990s. But who knows? They are small enough to put on a small boat and get close enough and KABOOM, I suppose.

I loved The Conversation, by the way! Do you consider that Gene Hackman-Will Smith film the unofficial sequel? Just curious.

[xrp]

Well, if I were trying to get a jetliner close enough to an aircraft carrier to crash it then I would charter a plane, submit a flight plan that would take it over the carrier, follow the flight plan until I'm overhead or close to it, and then just dive into the carrier at maximum velocity. The carrier doesn't sit still. The carrier's combat air patrol doesn't like other aircraft getting too close to its carrier. The carrier is escorted by Aegis cruisers and destroyers that are packed with a few dozen surface-to-air missile each. The carrier and escort radar can pick up an air intruder about 100 miles away. The carrier's airborne early warning radar (Hawkeyes) can spot an air intruder up to 250 miles away.

A carrier at sea would be very, VERY hard to get an approach on.

[Glock17]

The Tomcat guys will be fighting over who gets to stand the alert 5 watches for the next few nights. No way in hell an airliner will get past them (or the sea whiz). Not to mention the escort screen. Robo-cruiser will take over and anything not squawking sweet on MODE 4 Parrot/India dies. It would almost be funny if innocents wouldn't die aboard the airliner.

[GeronL]

Are you refering to that missing airliner that was full of fuel tanks??

[Fitzcarraldo]

Let's say a nuclear device were exploded underwater at some distance beneath a carrier - would the rising gas bubble be large enough to cause the carrier to founder and sink?

[Qwinn]

You're all acting like the source has to be from outside - rafts with explosives and stuff like that.

Is everyone forgetting the Cole?

It's called sabotage. Someone on the inside with access to the ship. Possibly on the standing crew.

That's of course assuming there's any truth to this, which frankly if it -had been- true is no longer. I have no doubt Kitty Hawk is getting strip-searched as we speak and any sabotage will be uncovered and defused. (Not that the U.S. military necessarily considers this a reliable source, but they're not going to just ignore it, regardless of where it comes from)

Qwinn