Posted on 04/14/2018 5:39:31 PM PDT by Navy Patriot
While the S-200 has a lot of range and speed, it’s old and not maneuverable. It was originally intended to go after B-52’s and the like (B-47’s, the RAF V-Bombers) flying at altitude. The S-200 does not have much in the way of low altitude capability. In defense of the Soviet Union, a good number likely had fission warheads.
Or the Israelis might like the data, too?
“This war has been something like one of those goofy “pro” wrestling matches where you load a bunch of people into the ring and everyone fights everyone else, with alliances constantly shifting, and so on.”
The mass of ISIS fighters is currently camped out in the Kurdish section of Syria on the Iraq border, with the United States guarding the Euphrates crossing around Dier Ez-Zor.
Makes you wonder why ISIS would flee into an area controlled by the Kurds and exactly what the US military is doing about it, besides preventing pro-Assad elements from going after them.
We did, some folks on twitter tracked the Elint birds off the coast last night
So is Russia, i thouht they had s400 missile defense there.
All wars are testing grounds for new stuff.
That is true if you pay in Euros or Riyal.
I guess I’m lucky enough to have chosen mostly truly trustworthy friends & have a good family. Mostly.
I was on a safety team sent to evaluate a problem with the early stand off missile. It seemed that when they dropped it from the plane with the wings folded and the engine off, it failed to open the wings and fell into the ground like a rock. It was designed to open the wings and stabilize and then fire up the engine.
We traced the problem to software that checked all the deploying ordnance and found that a program that verified all the ordnance were properly installed was still running after it was dropped.
Well, the deployment ordnance signaled the safety circuit that the ordnance was gone and the safety circuit shut everything else down. The solution was easy, change the software so that when you launch the missile it stops checking the ordnance to see if it is safe. (Its gone, and not a threat to the plane anymore.)
This was a fun trip, and this is the first time I heard the system was deployed to do what it was designed to do. Each branch of the company sent their trouble shooting “engineers” to help find out what was wrong before the design went any further. This was part of Lockheed’s team effort to get to the bottom of critical problems quickly.
My hat is tipped to Lockheed.
ISIS previously controlled a LOT more of the now green north (go look up some older maps!!!) & have basically been pushed back into their present enclaves, mainly by the Kurds. The ISIS enclaves are areas they TOOK from the Kurds, and may now be contained by the Kurds, but are certainly not yet “controlled” by the Kurds. To suggest that, or that the Kurds / US are somehow deliberately shielding ISIS from Assad is disingenuous at best.
I would add that I get the impression progress against ISIS has slowed due to the Kurds having to worry about Turkey.
I’d also add that that map is a bit misleading: Inside the blue area and even in the green area are smaller areas that really no one controls. In some desolate places, perhaps no one cares a lot @ present.
If you actually think we launched the best versions of our best missiles at a third-rate target, I have a bridge I know you want to buy.
The ones we launched had a little bit more capability than necessary to do the job. Anything more would have been wasted and would not be used.
OTOH, we should have learned about the capabilities of their defenses even if they didn't launch a single interceptor. The radar signatures of the targeting systems were recorded and are being analyzed.
No, I don't have inside information, but that is the way it should be done.
What do you Crows think? Would we take advantage of the opportunity presented by a real live fire mission to gather intel on our enemy?
“If Assad goes down...”
It may have escaped your attention, but Trump DIDN’T park a cruise missile in Assad’s bedroom.
You might astutely process that specific bit of data into a scenario in which, if we really wanted him gone, he’d have been gone quite some time ago.
This was a bit of comeuppance reminding him who REALLY holds the other end of the string. Oh, yes — in the immediate sense, Assad dances to Iran’s tune, but it’s the U.S. of A. that programs the jukebox.
Those are generally binary weapons and have to be combined very accurately. Destruction of widely separated components at a large scale factory wouldn’t pose too much of a risk
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
Heh heh heh...
Most are “binary” now anyway ..... pretty factory simple / safe but cobbled up in Mohammedans mud huts is a different critter altogether ...... my experience and opinion on the matter.......
I find it shocking that so many missiles had to be used to take out a single Research and Development Center.
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There were at least 3 separate compounds destroyed and, reading elsewhere, other targets as well.
I’ll bet they are hundreds of feet UNDER ground.
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From the damage assessment images, they are now.
Nice analysis, Zhang.
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