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Raytheon-made shell kills al-Qaeda leader, U.S. says
Arizon Daily Star ^ | July 17, 2007 | Tony Capaccio

Posted on 07/18/2007 10:10:35 AM PDT by RDTF

WASHINGTON - A Raytheon Co. satellite-guided artillery shell, the first weapon of its kind, killed a top al- Qaeda leader in Iraq, the U.S. military said. The firing of two new 155mm “Excalibur” shells was part of a combined Army and Air Force assault July 14 on a meeting house in Arab Jabour south of Baghdad directed against the leader, Abu Jurah, and 14 associates, U.S. forces said today. Raytheon, the world’s biggest missile maker and Southern Arizona’s largest employer, developed the Excalibur with Bofors Defence of Sweden. The statement e-mailed from Baghdad said Abu Jurah was “the top target” in al-Qaeda south of Baghdad, responsible for a terrorist cell that made improvised roadside bombs and suicide vehicle bombs and fired mortars at U.S. troops.

The attack marked the U.S. military’s first acknowledgement that the new precision-guided weapon has been used in Iraq. In combat testing before deployment, the weapon demonstrated accuracy within 20 feet (6 meters) of its target, a precision designed to minimize civilian casualties and accidental U.S. military deaths in a war that is increasingly urban. An unguided 155mm shell can miss its target by as much as 900 feet or 280 meters. The Excalibur has a 50-pound warhead. The Army wanted a weapon with a much smaller warhead than the 200- pound charge on its only precision guided ground-based mobile rocket system, officials said. Abu Jurah was killed by troops from the Army’s 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, who fired the two Excalibur shells, destroying the meeting house, the statement said.

-snip-

(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abujurah; airforce; alqaeda; alqaedainiraq; army; artillery; defensecontractors; excalibur; iraq; miltech; raytheon; sweden; wot
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To: glorgau

$39K is cheap, cheap, cheap...


41 posted on 07/18/2007 11:07:29 AM PDT by RedRightReturn (Global Warming is the new Eugenics...and Al Gore is the new Margaret Sanger)
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To: No Truce With Kings

Bump for home


42 posted on 07/18/2007 11:11:37 AM PDT by doodad
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To: RDTF
Note to dead jihadis: Say 'hi' to Saddam for us!


43 posted on 07/18/2007 11:13:06 AM PDT by SeafoodGumbo
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To: RDTF

Up your nose with a 155mm!


44 posted on 07/18/2007 11:13:51 AM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken (Seldom right but never in doubt)
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To: montag813

LOL...it’s reports like these that give me the warm fuzzies...god bless the USA and Corporate America!


45 posted on 07/18/2007 11:15:01 AM PDT by Paco
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To: RDTF
shells costing about $39,000 apiece

I hope that's got some R&D costs embedded. Otherwise it's too expensive.

46 posted on 07/18/2007 11:15:41 AM PDT by edsheppa
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To: reagan_fanatic
we’ll be able to put one right up a terrorist’s arsehole without blinking.

The AC-130 gunship series has been able to do that for decades. I saw a video of one putting a 40mm round in the left hip pocket of a dummy from 16,000 ft in pitch darkness.

47 posted on 07/18/2007 11:19:19 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (Ratzaz! There. I do give one about something.)
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To: RDTF

While it’s interesting to read about what they killed him with - and I’d like pictures! - I’d much rather hear about how they FOUND him, how his location became known.


48 posted on 07/18/2007 11:26:54 AM PDT by Redbob (WWJBD -"What would Jack Bauer do?")
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To: edsheppa
“I hope that’s got some R&D costs embedded. Otherwise it’s too expensive.”
_________________________________________________________

I dunno...less rounds needed, less rounds through the tube and less $$$ paid in collateral claims just might mitigate that price tag a bit.

49 posted on 07/18/2007 11:31:44 AM PDT by Roccus (Able Danger??? What's an Able Danger?????)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Not painful at all. It is the ultimate in stand off weapons. Can be fired from 10-20 miles away and the enemy never hears it coming. All you need is someone in the air or on the ground to paint the target, acquire the gps co-ordinates and bingo, they are gone. Much cheaper than using planes and their gps guided munitions. I believe some of these are being fielded in Afghanistan in the near future. Will be perfect for the kid of cross border strikes I think we are presently contemplating. If you start hearing about pakistani tribal area having a rash of premature suicide bomg explosions, you should not be surprised.


50 posted on 07/18/2007 11:40:22 AM PDT by milwguy
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To: edsheppa

Much cheaper than using f-16’s and the like with their gps munitions.


51 posted on 07/18/2007 11:41:25 AM PDT by milwguy
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To: Roccus
True, but I was comparing mentally to other ways to achieve the same effect. Make a SGB the same size, drop from unmanned bombers. With sufficient altitude, you can probably get close to the same range as the artillery.

Supposing the $39K is close to a true cost, the majority must go to making the electronics and guidance able to withstand the shell's acceleration. That is avoided in an SGB so presumably there'd be a lot of savings. OTOH, costs more to operate aircraft than artillery.

52 posted on 07/18/2007 11:52:11 AM PDT by edsheppa
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To: RDTF

Own the stock. Love the company even more now.


53 posted on 07/18/2007 11:53:15 AM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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Comment #54 Removed by Moderator

To: Redbob

His boss was captured on July the 4th and he ratted him out!


55 posted on 07/18/2007 12:05:44 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (Feds)
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To: RDTF; All

Below, a nice video clip about the Excalibur missile, an excellent example of American-Swedish-British cooperation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XLr24-YrGU

Brief overview (at Wikipedia), containing links to many web sites containing more detailed info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM982_Excalibur

Cheers from Europe!


56 posted on 07/18/2007 12:06:11 PM PDT by WesternCulture
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To: VOA
It sure seems to be a leap forward in artillery in terms of precision, accuracy and diminuation of collateral damage.

Not to mention cost. Those things have to be, or will be, cheaper than missiles.

57 posted on 07/18/2007 12:16:10 PM PDT by AFreeBird (Will NOT vote for Rudy. <--- notice the period)
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To: RDTF
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
58 posted on 07/18/2007 12:35:08 PM PDT by USMCPOP (Father of LCpl. Karl Linn, KIA 1/26/2005 Al Haqlaniyah, Iraq)
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
Peace through superior fire power.

I know it's unfashionable on both sides of the political spectrum to speak of war as a police action, but from where I stand this has been the position most desired by the United States.

Police are not interested in chess games or fair fights. Their goal is to have overwhelming force and, through intimidation, stand the enemy down without firing a shot.

War happens when forces are perceived to be approximately equal, and there is a chance for either side to win.

When governments are functional, conflicts takes place in the arena of politics.

59 posted on 07/18/2007 12:42:24 PM PDT by js1138
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To: WesternCulture

I like the idea of firing anything named xm-982 at al queda.


60 posted on 07/18/2007 12:43:01 PM PDT by omega4179 (Are we serious about Islams global war on freedom?)
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