Israel: Iran Aided Hezbollah Ship Attack

Associated Press ^ | Jul 15, 2006 | MATT MOORE

[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,"...

[george76]

This missle attack pushes the envelope to the next level.

The Israeli Navy has some work to do.

[massadvj]

Elite Iranian troops helped fire the missile...

It is somewhat ludicrous to think that a missile fired by Hezbullpucky is somehow devoid of Iranian fingerprints; whereas a missile fired by troop advisors to Hezbullcrapeaters shows complete Iranian complicity. Whether the source of an attack is Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah or some other group is of little consequence IMHO. The Iranians and Syrians benefit from the fact that we in the west differentiate between one terrorist group and another, because it is a smokescreen that hides the state-sponsored aspect of it all.

The anti-war crowd can bluster NO CONNECTION BETWEEN COUNTRY X AND TERRORIST GROUP Y. It's ridiculous. Does anyone realistically think these groups could exist in the Middle East -- where they cut off your hands for stealing -- without government encouragement, recruitment, complicity and financing?

That said, at least the direct involvement of Iranian forces in the conflict elevates the status to a level in which the west has a strategic advantage.

We are very good at blowing up a visible enemy.

[The Sons of Liberty]

First, the Israelis accused Iran of launching the missile that hit Haifa, now they accuse Iran of supplying and supporting the launch of a missile that heavily damaged one of their ships. It looks like Israel is building a case for a well justified strike against Iran.

Do the World a favor - Go For It and don't hold back!

[GATOR NAVY]

From http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/c-802.htm

"Since the missile has a small radar reflectivity and is only about five to seven meters above the sea surface when it attacks the target, and since its guidance equipment has strong anti-jamming capability, target ships have a very low success rate in intercepting the missile. The hit probability of the Yingji-802 is estimated to be as high as 98 percent. The Yingji-802 can be launched from airplanes, ships, submarines and land-based vehicles, and is considered along with the US "Harpoon" as among the best anti-ship missiles of the present-day world."

Ridiculous on the part of the israeli navy to loose a ship.

They didn't loose the ship, it was damaged, which makes me doubt the missile was a C-802. A corvette-sized ship would take some serious damage from a 165 kg warhead, and this missile also requires a fair amount of infrastructure. Two guys don't just carry one down to the beach and fire it.

[george76]

DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal:

Shortly before 20:00 hours Friday, Hizballah launched a pair of land-to-sea C-802 missiles against the Israeli ship from the coast of Beirut.

The trajectory of the first was adjusted to a landing amidships from above. It missed and exploded in the water.

The second was rigged to skim the water like a cruise missile. It achieved a direct hit of the Ahi Hanit’s helicopter deck, starting a fire.

The ship began to sink, as Nasrallah said, and would have been lost were it not for the speed and bravery of crewmen who jumped into the flames and doused them before the ship exploded and sank.

It is not known whether the men dead and missing paid with their lives for saving the ship.

This was the second time in 48 hours that the Israeli high command was taken by unawares.

[GonzoGOP]

Looks like the whole Axis is involved in this one

From GlobalSecurity.org
In early 2000 it was reported that North Korea and Iran were jointly developing an advanced version of the C-802 cruise missile. These missiles initially acquired by Iran were not equipped with advanced systems, and the missiles acquired by Iran were rather outdated. Iran turned to North Korea for missile system technology, and the two countries are jointly developing an upgraded version with improved accuracy. ["N. Korea, Iran Jointly Develop Missile: Report" Korea Times February 17, 2000]

[gafusa]

With what? Unless you propose nukes, Israel has nothing that can significantly hurt Iran. The IDF has no heavy aircraft, surface vessels or submarines, only fighters and small ships, only 3 small submarines, and no credible long range attack capability against a target such as Iran. Only the US can do this. And it is high time we do.

[Migraine]

Lets see what Israel is going to do to Iran now. The time for punishment is now.

I agree. I think it will take the form of numerous covert assassinations, which is how I've long felt the Israel would decapitate the jangling, trash-talking threat from Iran.

[yooling]

Pardon my ignorance, but how could the Israelies get an ID on the missile? Anyone?

[GonzoGOP]

I wonder what the Israeli version of the Congressional Medal of Honor is?

[Migraine]

With what? Unless you propose nukes, Israel has nothing that can significantly hurt Iran. The IDF has no heavy aircraft, surface vessels or submarines, only fighters and small ships, only 3 small submarines, and no credible long range attack capability against a target such as Iran. Only the US can do this. And it is high time we do.

see my comment #28

[RouxStir]

"Since Iraq is a soverign nation, Israel needs the approval of Jordan and Iraq"

Maybe we can just "lend-lease" some equipment to Israel...equiupment that just happens to be in Iraq.

[andyk]

Col. North was on Fox News last night waving a propeller around, indicating it was about the same size as the one on the drone that hit this ship.

[SmithL]

We'll probably see a lot more of these Silkworms before we're done with Iran.

[RouxStir]

"Looks like the whole Axis is involved in this one"

Looks like Bush nailed it on the head when he named the Axis of Evil.

[Grampa Dave]

fyi

[Jeff Head]

It was a Saar 5 that has two 32 cell Baraks and a phalanx CIWS.

I believe the Iranians were certainly involved and owuld not be surprised to lear of Chinese advisiors as well. It is a Chhinese designed missile and can be fired from land-based, mobile installations.

This thing was desgined specifically for this type of engagement and yet was defeated and mission killed. Huge development, not only in terms of escalation in this conflict, but in terms of ramifications for poricedures and technology all over. Analysts will be deeply into this one from every modern nation. Some (our side) to beafen up defenses and protect against future ones, others (the other side) to exploit weakness.

[Recovering Hermit]

Iran's finger prints are all over this planned two front war against Israel.

Yep, and Isreal didn't need this "confirmation" of Iranian involvement to begin with.

Amanutwhowantsjihad has made it sparklingly clear just what he thinks about Israel's existence.

This is really a good thing for Israel. They can take out Iran's nuclear facilities and anything else that they deem necessary as self-defense....while ignoring the nauseating condemnations and calls for "restraint" from their enemies at the UN.

[GonzoGOP]

If they were Silkworms i wouldn't be worried. The old SS-2 Styx/Silkworm is one of the easiest missiles to shoot down in the world. The Israelis knocked them down by the truck load during the 1973 war. The C-802/ SACCADE moves the poker game to a whole new level. These things are fast, hard to detect, have good guidance and difficult to spoof off the target.

Of course they are also very expensive, require a lot of infrastructure to set up and use properly, and are not something you find available on the black market. This is the best missile the Iranians have. For Iran to say they weren't involved would be like some small anti Iranian Kurdish group in Iraq firing a couple of Tomahawks Land Attack missiles into Tehran and the US saying we weren't involved. Hey now there is an idea :)