Posted on 07/15/2006 8:15:40 AM PDT by george76
A missile fired by Hezbollah, not an unmanned drone laden with explosives, damaged an Israeli warship off Lebanon, the army said Saturday.
Elite Iranian troops helped fire the missile...
One sailor was killed and three were missing.
The intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said about 100 Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon and helped fire the Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102 at the ship late Friday.
The official added that the troops involved in firing the missile are from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an elite corps of more than 200,000 fighters that is independent of the regular armed forces and controlled directly by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Initial information indicated the guerrillas had used a drone for the first time to attack Israeli forces.
But the army's investigation showed that Hezbollah had fired an Iranian-made missile at the vessel from the shores of Lebanon, said Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan.
"We can confirm that it was hit by an Iranian-made missile launched by Hezbollah. We see this as very profound fingerprint of Iranian involvement in Hezbollah,"...
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.ask.com ...
Could they be trying to divert from the fact that their EW did not pick up the threat - is that even possible that it won't work against certain missiles?
I cannot believe this. The ship was in comnbat and was stationed there precisely to protect the gun boats from any air attack. Having their EW and ECM and DETECTION gear was off in such a situation would be almost a court-martial offense IMHO. Criminal derelection in a combat zone particularly.
I cannot imagine the IDF not having the C-802 in their active library. It is the principle anti-shipping weapon of their principal adversary, the Iranians.
As for me, I am an engineer and worked on naval DOD projects for a number of years Dad was a combat vet of the PTO in WW II, son-in-law is active duty Navy now, and his wife, my daughter, works for the Navy. I've been a member of the US Naval institute for years.
Now work for the Federal government.
"Elite" forces in the muslim world equate to a Marine 2 weeks into boot camp.
yea.. I don't get this "Elite" catchy phrase every time they speak about muslim armies.. one of our regular Army guys is more Elite than the bestest they can muster.
Can we loan the Israelis the moth-balled New Juersey class battleships? They would give them a bit more range for shore bombardment.
I don't think so. Then again, I was a WLR-1G/SLQ-26 jockey, and I am totally unfamiliar with their EW gear, which is listed as:
EW: Elisra NS9003/9005 intercept/jammer, multiple RLs
They also have chaff launchers. I don't know why they wouldn't have their gear set up to detect/identify/jam this missile, unless they didn't have the intel to tell them what the parameters were. As they are our ally in the region (and I am assuming that WE know what the parameters are), I doubt that is very likely.
I also am having a hard time believing that they didn't think an Iranian missile wouldn't pose a threat to them, seeing as Iran founded Hezbullah in the first place. Something isn't adding up here.
That said, I agree with Jeff Head on this one. If their EW gear was off in a combat zone, the person responsible for it should be up on charges. This ship was primary AAW for the task force, and intentionally making yourself blind to all threat emitters is not only totally unacceptable, it is insane.
you think maybe it was juicy steak dangle op? maybe insertion took place while all eyes were on the ship looking the other way?
Not a bad idea. Lobbing trash can-sized shells on shore really gets people's attention. Incendiary shells for effect.
Think about what that implies.
It is time to neuter the Iranian threat.
Think about what that implies.
It is time to neuter the Iranian threat.
Hadn't thought of that, actually... hmmm...
Could be. Too many things about this incident don't make any sense. Why was their stern (helo deck) pointing toward the shore, where the AAW threat they were supposedly protecting against would have come from? If they were primary AAW, why was their detection gear turned off? For what possible reason did they think that they were safe from SSM's, that close to shore?
Now that I've seen pictures of that ship, I recognize it. That, or similar ships, have been cruising the coast within a couple of miles of shore. I see them from the roof of my hotel. WAY to close for their comfort. Interestingly, one was back today, after the hit on its brethren yesterday. This leads me to believe that they were caught offguard, and won't be again. I also hear jets cruising overhead. If the Iranians shoot any more missiles for Hizbollah, they will be toasted.
...intentionally making yourself blind to all threat emitters is not only totally unacceptable, it is insane.
well what's that Special Ops Israeli team's name? I know a couple of courageous Islamic leaders are on the hit list now..
Maybe they use the word "elite" to try to scare us.
The old media wants us to lose.
It will not work, but the DUmmies at Reuters, etc. are trying...
My guess is they will be further off shore with a LOT more air support, particulalry AWACS and the like.
Keep ypou head down, watch your six, and your top-knot over there.
That lend lease idea is good.
Have you seen this ?
The London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.”
Al-Hayat quoted the source as saying that “the US cannot rule out the possibility of an Israeli strike in Syria,”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3275886,00.html
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