Posted on 03/19/2005 1:38:44 PM PST by LSUfan
On Friday, news broke that Iran had received 12 nuclear-capable cruise missiles illegally exported from the Ukraine in 2001.
It is important to note that the missiles were not equipped with nuclear warheads, but are specifically designed to carry nuclear warheads.
This raises troubling questions.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayoubuzz.com ...
Would these cruise missiles have the range to hit Isreal?
And if Iran used its nukes to wipe out Tel Aviv and other Jewish centers in Israel, the UN would not be upset about that result, since the UN has treated Isreal like a rogue State. It has been treated worse than some rogue states. The UN would probably see it as a great way to bring about mideast peace.
Sarcasm tag
The shame of it is, that appears to be just the way things are developing. I was particularly disturbed that the head of the IAEA called North Korea a greater threat than Iran. Then again, he's a Muslim Arab named Mohammed.
Not that North Korea isn't a threat of course...
If a single nuke hit Israel from Iran, I believe Israel would let loose with everything they had. Iran would vanish. Israel has about 50 "Jerico-2" medium range nukes with a 925 mile range. They have a Jerico-3 missile under development with a 2950 mile range, enough to hit any country in the entire middle east, including India and Pakistan.
A Tomahawk could:
From the US Navy Fact File
Tomahawk® Cruise Missile
Updated: 11 August 2003
Description: The Tomahawk® Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long range, subsonic cruise missile used for land attack warfare, launched from U. S. Navy surface ships and U.S. Navy and Royal Navy submarines.
Background: Tomahawk® cruise missiles are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds, and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission tailored guidance systems. The first operational use was in Operation Desert Storm, 1991, with immense success. The missile has since been used successfully in several other conflicts. In 1995 the governments of the United States and United Kingdom signed a Foreign Military Sales Agreement for the acquisition of 65 missiles, marking the first sale of Tomahawk® to a foreign country. After a November 1998 launch and live warhead test, the U.K. declared operational capability.
Features: The Tomahawk® Block II Nuclear variant (TLAM-N) uses an Inertial Navigation System (INS) aided by Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) for missile navigation. TLAM-N contains the W80 nuclear warhead. Tomahawk® Block III adds Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) and Global Positioning Satellite System guidance capability which is highly coupled to the existing Block II guidance systems for precision navigation. The Tomahawk® Block III Conventional variant (TLAM-C) contains a 1,000-lb class blast/fragmentary unitary warhead while the Submunition variant (TLAM-D) includes a submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets. Because of its long range, lethality, and extreme accuracy Tomahawk® has become the weapon of choice for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Tomahawk® Block IV (Tactical Tomahawk™, TLAM-E), the next generation Tomahawk® cruise missile adds the capability to reprogram the missile while in-flight to strike any of 15 pre-programmed alternate targets or redirect the missile to any Global Positioning System (GPS) target coordinates. It also will be able to loiter over a target area, and with its on-board camera, will allow the warfighting commanders to assess target battle damage. The first launch of the Block IV Tomahawk® from an operational surface ship equipped with the Tactical Tomahawk™ Weapon Control System took place on 5 April 2003 from USS Stethem (DDG 63) off southern California. Launched from the Navy's forward-deployed ships and submarines, Tomahawk® Block IV, will provide a greater flexibility to the on-scene commander. Tomahawk® Block IV will become operational in mid 2004.
Point of Contact:
Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation [PEO (W)]
Public Affairs Office
Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, Maryland 20670-1547
phone: 301-757-5289
General Characteristics
Primary Function: long-range subsonic cruise missile for striking high value or heavily defended land targets.
Contractor: Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, Ariz.
Unit Cost: approximately $569,000 (FY99 $)
Power Plant:
Block II/III TLAM-A, C & D - Williams International F107 cruise turbo-fan engine ; ARC/CSD solid-fuel booster
Block IV TLAM-E - Williams International F415 cruise turbo-jet engine ; ARC solid-fuel booster
Length: 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 meters); with booster: 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 meters)
Weight: 2,900 pounds (1,315.44 kg); 3,500 pounds (1,587.6 kg) with booster
Diameter: 20.4 inches (51.81 cm)
Wing Span: 8 feet 9 inches (2.67 meters)
Range:
Block II TLAM-A – 1350 nautical miles (1500 statute miles, 2500 km)
Block III TLAM-C - 900 nautical miles (1000 statute miles, 1600 km)
Block III TLAM-D - 700 nautical miles (800 statute miles, 1250 km)
Block IV TLAM-E - 900 nautical miles (1000 statute miles, 1600 km)
Speed: Subsonic - about 550 mph (880 km/h)
Guidance System:
Block II TLAM-A – INS, TERCOM
Block III TLAM-C, D & Block IV TLAM-E – INS, TERCOM, DSMAC, and GPS
Warheads: Block II TLAM-N – W80 nuclear warhead
Block III TLAM-C and Block IV TLAM-E - 1,000 pound class unitary warhead
Block III TLAM-D - conventional submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets.
Date Deployed: Block II TLAM-A IOC - 1984
Block III – IOC 1994
Block IV – IOC expected 2004
THEIR RANGE IS 3000 KILOMETERS, ABOUT 1800 MILES
HERE ,
Thank you for reminding me that Israel will not be defenseless. It is comforting. It would be more comforting if there were not so many Muslims willing to die as martyrs. I think the saving grace is that the Mullahs have no desire to die, despite the bilge the more extreme ones feed the young people.
I read somewhere that the Israeli Defense Force had begun deploying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on their submarines. That way they could make sure at least some of their nukes would survive a first-strike by Iran, Syria, or Pakistan. Have you heard anything about this?
I think Israel's nukes would be fine. Even if Iran manages to get 3 or 4 nukes, they won't be accurate enough to actually target the Iranian nuclear silo's. That's little comfort of course, as in that scenario Israel would be destroyed with about 50 million others in the Middle East.
Someone help me out here.... If Iran somehow managed to nuke Tel Aviv, not only would they assure their own destruction from an Isreali retaliatory strike, but they would wipe out most, if not all of the Palestinians in the the West Bank & Gaza Strip, which the last time I checked were considered thier "brothers." Theres logic for ya....
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