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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran, "We can kick your ass!"
2006-04-04

TEHRAN, Iran - A top Iranian military official said Tuesday the country can now defend itself against any invasion originating from outside the region — a clear reference to the United States — as it tested a second new radar-avoiding missile.
That and $5 can get you a box of chocolates.
The new surface-to-sea missile is equipped with remote-control and searching systems, state-run television reported.
I doubt it does frequency hopping so can most likely be jammed.
It said the new missile, called Kowsar after the name of a river in paradise, was a medium-range weapon that Iran had the capability to mass-produce. It also asserted that the Kowsar's guidance system could not be scrambled You wanna bet on that?, and it had been designed to sink ships.

Shortly after the test, the chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, warned that Iran was now able to "confront any extra-regional invasion," referring to the United States without mentioning it by name. "The missile command of the Guards' naval force ... via positioning various types of surface-to-sea missiles, is able, while defending the coastlines and islands, to confront any extra-territorial invasion," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Safavi as saying.
Just as the airborne laser comes online too.
Safavi also called for foreign forces to leave the region. The U.S. 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, from where it patrols the Gulf. "Iran wants durable peace in the Persian Gulf and it can't be achieved without foreign forces and those which invaded Iraq leaving (the region)," IRNA quoted Safavi as saying.

On Friday, the country tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously after it breaks up in flight using multiple warheads. Iran also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes. The second torpedo, unveiled Monday, was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Gulf that is a vital corridor for oil supplies. That seemed to be a clear warning to the United States that Iran believes it has the capability to disable oil tankers moving through the Gulf.

The Revolutionary Guards, the elite branch of Iran's military, have been holding their maneuvers — code-named the "Great Prophet" — since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.
You are gonna need 'em.
But some military analysts in Moscow said it appears the high-speed torpedoes likely were Russian-built weapons that may have been acquired from China or the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Others have questioned just how radar-evading the missiles are. Iran's radars are not as advanced as those of Israel, for example — meaning that perhaps the new weapons can avoid Iran's radar but not more advanced types.
They avoid radar by burrowing. Ya, that's it!
The United States said Monday — after the second torpedo test — that while Iran may have made "some strides" in its military, it likely is exaggerating its capabilities. "We know that the Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons system by both foreign and indigenous measures," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington. "It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and technology."

But "the Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.
Gee ... ya think?
It has not been possible to verify Iran's claims for the new armaments. But the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
More stupidity at link.
Posted by:DarthVader

#9  So are these Iran's equivalent of Saddam's dual-use, nuke-capable, Russian-controlled, modern FROG rockets, the ones Saddam loyalists were trying to disguise as either outmoded SCUDS or other simple rockets??? "Tis a shame Saddam's boyz had to destroy such brand-new, glossy techy weapons.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-04-05 00:03  

#8  It should be amusing seeing the Iranian boats blow themselves outta' the water trying to fire those Shkvals. If the Russkies couldn't fire a test torp properly aboard the Kursk (may her crew rest in peace) then I'm fairly certain that the Iranians will have a certain amount of problems torching theirs off as well.

A little rust in the wrong spot can apparently do wonders.

Posted by: FOTSGreg   2006-04-04 23:17  

#7  Baghdad Bob indeed. These lunatics have bought a bunch of Russian junk and now think they're invincible. I almost feel sorry for them... but not quite. Glass 'em.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-04-04 22:03  

#6  So they kick our ass. We slap a bandage on the donkey and then go in and slap them all silly. I can only guess that Iran's propaganda writers must have gone to school with Baghdad Bob.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-04-04 21:47  

#5  Brett, you obviously have not seen the damage a flying IRG can cause when he splatters on a windshield. Think skunk
Posted by: Captain America   2006-04-04 20:52  

#4  I'm OK with that - a permanent case of shock and awe
Posted by: Frank G   2006-04-04 20:16  

#3  Sadly enough, I believe that they *think* they are invulnerable.

Years ago, I talked with a Lebanese who was studying to be an electronics engineer in the US. He said to me that "It was ridiculous that the US used most of its defense budget to buy arms for Israel."

I pointed out that the entire Isreali arms budget is spare change by Pentagon standards.

He refused to believe me, though I offered to prove it to him.

The point was, he couldn't believe me. He had seen the Israeli military at work, and couldn't, he refused to, believe that there was any army mightier than them.

In retrospect, I'm afraid that this truth is also not-known and not-believed throughout the Islamic world. They just cannot, will not grasp the reality.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-04-04 19:56  

#2  I'm just whelmed, over and under.

Let's avoid the rush - where do we surrender?
Posted by: Spomble Threanter5259   2006-04-04 19:39  

#1  I saw a video on Special Report that was this new flying boat. It was very small and had an external engine that looked like a flat-six propeller job. It appeared to have neither offensive not defensive armaments nor the space or power to carry any.

Kamikaze aircraft without the ability to do any damage. Wudda joke.
Posted by: Brett   2006-04-04 19:30  

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