Silkworm Missile Suspected in Kuwaiti Blast
Friday, March 28, 2003
The "Silkworm" — believed to be the missile that exploded near a major shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday — is a Chinese-made version of the Soviet Styx, a crude but sometimes effective anti-ship missile.
The Silkworm has a 1-ton explosive warhead and a range of about 50 miles. It flies a sea-skimming horizontal course, using an on-board radar guidance system that homes in randomly on the first — or biggest — major ship, building or other target that it picks up.
Patriots — geared against aircraft and high-altitude missiles — probably could not pick a Silkworm up on radar.
Silkworms, or HY-1s, were used during the Iraq-Iran "tanker war" in the Persian Gulf in 1987-88 — but by Iran, not Iraq. An Iranian Silkworm was fired from a launcher in Iraq's Faw peninsula, then occupied by Iran. It hit one of the 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers that had been "reflagged" with the U.S. flag to qualify for U.S. Navy escort through the Gulf.
Kuwait was then backing Baghdad in the Iraq-Iran war that lasted from 1980 to 1988.
The tanker was moored at Kuwait's main coastal terminal, loading oil, when the Silkworm crashed into its bridge, causing massive damage and blinding the American captain. It was the only confirmed incident of a Silkworm hitting a target during the war, although Iran had numerous batteries along its coast, especially in the vital Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82537,00.html
Iran successfully tests surface-to-sea missiles
Iran has successfully tested surface-to-sea missiles with a range of 110 kilometers (68 miles), Iranian state television reported Monday.
The testing of the Silkworm missiles was the most important project of Monday's military maneuvers in southern Iran, the television said.
It said the Silkworms have a speed of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per second and a range of 110 kilometers (68 miles). They can detect targets from a distance of 15 kilometers (9 miles) and have the capacity to destroy a warship.
The report did not say whether the missiles could carry nuclear warheads.
Iran's armed forces began their biggest military maneuvers Friday in national waters in the Sea of Oman and Indian Ocean, close to Pakistan. The drills involved submarines, warships, missiles, jet fighters and gunships.
On Sunday, Iran commissioned its second domestically-built submarine, a vessel that can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.
According to recent reports, Germany has agreed to sell Israel two Dolphin submarines for a deeply discounted price. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, it has the capability to launch cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran produces the Shahab-3 missile, capable of reaching Israel and US forces stationed in the region. Since 1992, it also has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane
I think not. Try "per hour". Certainly dangerous to civilian shipping. Not dangerous to US warships, which have a layered air defense of radar-directed missiles designed to hit sea skimmers, plus jamming and chaff to fool their unsophisticated homing mechanisms, and phalanx close defense guns to shoot them down if those fail.