US finds missiles, armour in western Iraq

Hindustan Times ^ | April 19 2003 | AFP

[knighthawk]

US military officers on Friday claimed they had found an Iraqi FROG surface-to-surface missile and dozens of smaller surface-to-air missiles in western Iraq. Major Cory Mendenhall said a site with around 50 SA-7 and two SA-3 surface-to-air missiles, along with the FROG and a cache of warheads had been found yesterday with help from local residents.

The major told AFP that ordnance teams would be brought in before anything was done to the missiles, and added that several dozen Iraqi army trucks and armoured vehicles had also been located and disabled.

The FROG (Free Rocket Over Ground) is an unguided Soviet-designed missile with a range of no more than 70 km, the last version of which was produced in 1968, according to specialist websites.

It can carry nuclear or chemical as well as high explosive warheads.

Earlier a military spokesman at US Central Command head quarters in Qatarv said Australian forces had found 51 combat planes at an abandoned airfield in western Iraq.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[Maigret]

Who will Russia, France, Germany sell their old weapons to now? Wonder if Russia's old rockets work as well as their GPS jammers?

[hillary's_fat_a**]

The FROG (Free Rocket Over Ground) is an unguided Soviet-designed missile ...

Ahhh, I thought it was a French missile.

[Tennessee_Bob]

It's a rocket, not a missile.

[goose1]

picky picky,its ours now.

[Henchman]

The article I read stated that the 51 jets were MIGs (MIG-25?) and that the missles uncovered were manufactured by a Franco-German team last year. France denied it saying the Iraqis built the missle from spare parts!

SPARE PARTS! ...kiss my American AXX - they only go up once - the Iraqis were not backward enough to attemp to rebuild missles from "spare" parts. - What do they do? Retrieve an expended missle and rebuild it? The Franch trained Baghdad Bob!

[AFPhys]

I would like to know if the warheads found were explosive or chemical.

[n1f2ns]

We will be finding hidden weapons for months to come.

[vigilante2]

a 1968 frog rebuilt with spare parts? sounds like classic car weekend..things an antique

[American Soldier]

What exactly is the difference? I know there is a difference, but I never knew what the technical distinction was.

[Dusty Rose]

I am just astounded at the caches of weapons of all kinds being found anywhere and everywhere in multiple numbers, and all the ammo as well. If they had turned all that on the coalition forces, we'd have taken so many more casualties. It must be that they just did not have the will to fight. The coalition will be finding and destroying weapons for a long time.

[Tennessee_Bob]

A missile has a guidance package on it - you can program in a target, or a location, and the guidance package will steer it to the target. A rocket is aimed by pointing it in the general direction and adjusting the elevation. FROG stands for "Free Rocket Over Ground." It's like a big bottle rocket.