Posted on 01/05/2009 4:20:30 AM PST by Blueflag
there is also the issue of size of fragments to consider, these shells appear to have the same number of fragments as opposed to a spraying of thousands of tiny pieces like you would find from WP, typically a white cloud of particles. in all directions
Aboard ship, we used star shells and flares to throw off IR seekers. Hamas probably has ground weapons that utilize infrared.
I think illumination shells...and maybe the other is a star cluster. I don’t think they are smoke rounds - you don’t use them at night. Certainly no WP. The Gaza hospitals would be full of civilian burn victims. I don’t KNOW what WP looks like, since we don’t use it anymore. In fact, I have never heard of a modern round specifically for fire bombing...but I’m thinking it would be a heavy shell set for groundburst....not delicately hang in the air and flicker.
I did a little googling and found references to 155 mm (and smaller) arty and mortar shells that disperse smoke canisters and also shells that disperse WP soaked felt pieces. The WP auto-ignites in the atmosphere.
The ordinance in these photos clearly contains a LOT of ‘smoke emitters’ per item.
Not sure what it is. But thanks for the help.
Willy Pete (x2) and smoke.
I am with you. The ‘hang in the air and flicker’ has got me fooled.
And the use of WP in civilian areas would be a Reuters-ready moment.
Still baffled and ready to be educated.
Thanks Major. I’ll go with your answer since you are active USMC.
Thanks for serving, BTW.
My middle son goes for his officer interview and PFT on 6 January, with a Capt. Reddick at the Recruiting Station HQ in ATL.
Semper Fi!
Could be anti-personal rounds designed to burst overhead and throw fragments down.
I had to think about your 1-20-13 for a bit.
0bama’s last day in office
;-)
Recommended Reading:
ISRAEL, THAT DEADLY PIECE OF DIRT (2001)
Author: Peter S. Ruckman, Ph.D.
Source: Pensacola Bible Institute Press, Pensacola, Florida
(You can Google that)
Could be. But those are generally for an assembled force. And as I understand them, they produce black smoke.
And area-target antipersonnel munitions over a demonstrably civilian area would be very politically risky.
I am going with the Major’s view that these are white phosphorous-based smoke munitions. FAS.org and globalsecurity.org report that these munitions produce good smoke in 1/2 minute that can last for about 5 minutes. The canon cockers’ job is to fire enough rounds to shield actions for the ground commander’s desired time frame and map reference.
I am not sure what that round is but they were using air burst cluster rounds to clear landmines.
Thanks.
My dad’s brother was a Marine pilot in the Pacific in WWII. He flew B-17s for the Marines. My dad flew TBMs and then F4Us for the Navy. (my middle son intends to be a Marine Corps officer)
FWIW, I got two accurate answers on this munition — both from Marines ;-)
.......He flew B-17s for the Marines.......
The Marines had no B 17’s
Somebody else already mentioned it here. The one that looks like a firework could be a HE shell that went off too early. The ‘rain of fire’ quote is on Drudge now, with photo.
OK. Just bear in mind that my Dad’s brother Jack died ferrying a B-17. My dad and his younger brother Jon were only 11 mos apart and had been like twins. I trust my dad to tell me the truth that his brother died flying a B-17 as a Marine pilot.
Granted they might not have been on a combat mission for the Marines, but that Marine crew died flying a B-17 for their country.
My dad still has his brother’s Marine ring which he had mailed home prior to flying to Hawaii. His plane never made it and no wreckage or bodies were ever recovered.
Could you tell mewhere you got that picture? My dad was at Iwo, aboard ship, a sailor, myself and family are putting together a sort of book about his time in WW2, thanks.
On 17 February 1942, ten B-17 Flying Fortresses of a US Navy Task Force in "Southern Bomber Command" arrived at Archerfield airfield in Brisbane. These ten B-17's were part of a group of twelve B-17's that had flown from Hawaii via Plaine de Gaiacs, New Caledonia. They had spent a number of weeks in Hawaii prior to this long flight. On the final leg from Plaine de Gaiacs, two of the B-17's flew directly to Townsville in north Queensland through a tropical storm. This Naval Task Force was made up of twelve B-17's from a variety of Squadrons under the command of Captain R. Carmichael. Six of the Navy's ten B-17's that flew into Archerfield on 17 February 1942, were ex members of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Bomb Group. The 88th Reconnaissance squadron had earlier flown from California to Hawaii arriving during the Japanese air raid on 7 December 1941.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.