Missile Plot - Briton Arrested on Suspicion of Planning to Smuggle Missile Into U.S

ABC News ^ | 8/12/03

[areafiftyone]

A British citizen has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot to smuggle surface-to-air missiles into the United States, ABCNEWS has learned.

The man was arrested in Newark, N.J., this morning as part of an international sting pulled off by the FBI, British and Russian authorities. Other arrests are under way.

The person arrested allegedly sought to smuggle a Russian-made surface-to-air missile into the country and believed he was selling missiles to would-be terrorists, sources said. The name of the person has not been disclosed

[Sabretooth]

I keep hearing that, but I dont think it would scare them as much as most of you fools seem to think it would.

Punish the terrorists, not the pigs.

I think your idea would fail miserably and probably backfire somewhat.

This is 2003 not 1803.

[reagan_fanatic]

I agree.

Anyone caught smuggling this kind of lethal hardware into the U.S. ought to be executed immediately.

[jimbo123]

Properties (ItO 86 M Igla)

shoulder-fired AA missile
heat-seeking, not infrared
missile length 1.7 m
missile diameter 72 mm
missile weight 11 kg
mount weight 7 kg
combat charge 2 kg, of which 390 g explosive
missile speed 700 m/s
destructive range 500 to 5,200 m
destructive altitude 10 to 3,500 m
manufactured in the Soviet Union

[ravingnutter]

A search on Uzair Paracha turned up this story:

08/08/03 - NEW YORK (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors have levied a terrorism conspiracy charge against a 23-year-old Pakistani man, alleging that he arranged for an al Qaeda operative to enter the United States illegally. Uzair Paracha made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday but did not enter a plea. A bail hearing will be held Tuesday.

Paracha, a legal permanent resident of the United States, has been in jail for four months. He was detained in late March as a material witness in the investigation into al Qaeda and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The charge against him, one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Defense attorneys Anthony Ricco and Edward Wilford said Paracha will plead not guilty.

The criminal complaint alleges that Paracha agreed to help the al Qaeda operative obtain documents that would have allowed him to re-enter and possibly remain in the United States. Paracha is alleged to have helped the operative, who is not named, apply to U.S. immigration authorities for a Refugee Travel Document and to retrieve his passport, according to the complaint.

As part of the scheme, Paracha agreed to pose as the person in phone calls to immigration authorities, the complaint said. Paracha met in Pakistan this year with that al Qaeda operative, who remains overseas, according to the complaint. The operative allegedly asked Paracha to deposit money in his bank account, use his credit cards and close his post office box in Maryland to make it appear that the operative was in the United States.

Paracha arrived in the United States most recently in February, lived with a cousin in Brooklyn, and went into business selling Karachi residences owned by his father to Pakistanis moving back to their homeland, according to Ricco and Wilford. Prosecutors say the al Qaeda operative promised Paracha a $200,000 investment in his business, which also has an office in Karachi, contingent on his assistance, according to the complaint.

Paracha knew that the operative and another man were supporters of Osama bin Laden, according to the complaint. In New York, Paracha allegedly received two calls on his cell phone from the al Qaeda operative checking on the status of his travel documents, according to the complaint. Papers possessed by Paracha included handwritten instructions, such as "always call from a pay phone" and "put some money in my account," and statements such as "my status: asylee or refugee," according to the complaint. Ricco and Wilford asserted that Paracha has never been to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Paracha obtained a graduate degree in business from the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi last year. His mother, in an interview with CNN in Karachi, denied that her son is an al Qaeda associate.

CNN

[RoughDobermann]

heat-seeking, not infrared

Huh?

[Ex-Dem]

If true, that's very disturbing indeed...

The only consolation is that it seems the buyer who said that he was interested in shooting down Air Force One was the undercover agent.

[Sabretooth]

Heat seeking is more of a thermal sensing tech. Infra-red is just a color of light not visible to the naked eye.

[jimbo123]

The SA-18 GROUSE (Igla 9K38) is an improved variant in the the SA-7 & SA-14 series of manportable SAMs. As with the earlier SA-14, the SA-18 uses of a similar thermal battery/gas bottle, and the SA-18 has the same 2 kilogram high-explosive warhead fitted with a contact and grazing fuse. But the missile of entirely new design with substantially improved range and speed,. The new seeker and aerodynamic improvements extend its effective range, and its higher speed enables it to be used against faster targets. The SA-18 has a maximum range of 5200 meters and a maximum altitude of 3500 meters. The 9M39 missile SA-18 employs an IR guidance system using proportional convergence logic. The new seeker offers better protection against electro-optical jammers; the probability of kill against an unprotected fighter is estimated at 30-48%, and the use of IRCM jammers only degrades this to 24-30%.

The Igla-M [SA-N-10 ] is the naval version of the SA-18.

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[jimbo123]

SA-16 GIMLET Igla-1 9K310

The "IGLA-1" is a portable anti aircraft missile system (SA-16) with solid propellant guided missile. It is a simplified version of "IGLA" (SA-18) portable anti aircraft missile system. The system is designed for destroying low flying aircraft and helicopters. The missile can be launched to follow or meet enemy aircraft. SA-16 GIMLET (Igla-1 9K310) man-portable surface-to-air missile system, a further development from the SA-7 & SA-14 series, is an improved version of the SA-18 GROUSE, which was introduced in 1983, three years before the SA-16.

The SA-16 feattures a new seeker and modified launcher nose cover. Whereas the the SA-18 9M39 missile is fitted with an aerodynamic spike on the nose, the 9M310 missile of the SA-16 has the spike replaced with an aerodynamic cone held in place with a wire tripod. On the SA-18 the protective cover of the seeker is conical, on the SA-16 it is tubular with a prominent lip at the forward edge. The 9M313 missile of the SA-16 employs an IR guidance system using proportional convergence logic, and an improved two-color seeker, presumably IR and UV). The seeker is sensitive enough to home in on airframe radiation, and the two-color sensitivity is designed to minimize vulnerability to flares. The SA-16 has a maximum range of 5000 meters and a maximum altitude of 3500 meters.

[Eurotwit]

My impression is that it was the British arms dealer (the seller) who wanted to down Airforce One:

BBC correspondent Tom Mangold said the man bought one for $85,000 from a Russian factory and was promised another 50.

He said: "It may not have happened, but when the dealer says he wants to bring down Airforce One, it's pretty dispiriting."

Also listening to the BBC broadcast they certainyl implied that it wasd the daeler, not the agent which made the Air Force One request... Which made the story a bit weird... If the seller only was some international gangster, why would he care what the missile was used for as long as he got the cash...

[TomGuy]

FoxNews now reporting 3 have been arrested.

1 Afgan national.

More arrests may be ongoing overseas now.

[RoughDobermann]

Heat seeking is more of a thermal sensing tech. Infra-red is just a color of light not visible to the naked eye.

Right, but the stats claim that the missile seeker is "heat-seeking" but not "infrared." What else would a heat-seeking missile seek?

[spookycc]

FOXnews says 3 arrests - the original one plus two people in NYC (one an Afghan citizen). Warrants issued in UK and Russia.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews: Apparently the guy was able to get a missile into the US, but he was under surveillence.

[spookycc]

You type faster than me, TomGuy. ;-P

[Sabretooth]

Maybe yhey are referring to the optics?

beats me.

[alrea]

< liberal logic > "Let's get the guy who did this on Oprah, so he can 'educate' us on how to change how foreign policy

Peace first!!

Why do they hate us.

[Republican Red]

Kuddos to Intelligence. Another plot foiled. We were told many successes would never be made public. However, when they are made public a big THANKS and an ATTA BOY should go to those that made it all happen (or stopped it from happening).

God, Daschle must be deeply saddened at the news!

[Cobra64]

A similar situation was carried out by General (Blackjack) Pershing in the Philipines around 1914.

BTW, I'm not sure why you refer to me as a "fool." Do you insult people who don't believe everything you have an opinion on? You seem to be overly series.