barrage of unguided Katushyas
I know. "Muslim GPS" is just some Friday night humor on my part.
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| IDF confirms warship hit by explosive-laden UAV |
| 2006-07-14 |
| A Hizbullah strike on an IDF warship off the Lebanese coast damaged the ship severely, The IDF confirmed to The Jerusalem Post late Friday. Earlier reports disagreed regarding the extent of the damage, with the IDF initially reporting that the ship was largely unharmed. According to security officials, the ship was struck by an unmanned aerial vehicle packed with explosives, a new tactic for Hizbullah. Shortly before the strike, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in a telephone call to Hizbullah media outlets that Israel's ongoing operations in Lebanon were a campaign of revenge over its "defeat," as he referred to the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Nasrallah was responding to growing criticism over the Hizbullah cross-border attack on Wednesday that spurred the Israeli response. He also promised that IDF naval ships maintaining a sea blockade on Lebanese ports would be destroyed and called on the Lebanese people to join forces against Israel. The comments came after Hizbullah threatened to strike Haifa and beyond with improved Katyusha rockets in response to the destruction of Hizbullah headquarters in southern Beirut and Nasrallah's private residence. In an urgent flash, the organization's al-Manar TV station said the building housing Hizbullah's leadership was destroyed. It did not elaborate, nor say whether there were any casualties. The report on the destruction of Nasrallah's home was announced by official Hizbullah media outlets. It is generally known that Nasrallah, whose movements are treated with a high level of secrecy, moves from one place to another, particularly during the Israeli offensive. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's meeting with the "Group of Seven" security-related cabinet advisors ended a short time earlier on Friday evening. At the meeting, the prime minister approved a new list of targets for ongoing IDF operations in Lebanon. On Friday afternoon, IDF warplanes renewed attacks on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya, targeting a radio station belonging to the Hizbullah terror organization, Hizbullah said. The organization's Al-Manar TV reported that Israeli warplanes fired a missile in the vicinity of the Al-Nour station in the Haret Hreik neighborhood south of Beirut but missed the facility and struck an apartment in a residential building instead. There was no immediate word on casualties, and the station remained on the air. It was the second time Friday that IAF planes targeted residential neighborhoods in south Beirut, a stronghold of the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah's leadership. Israeli planes earlier rained missiles on roads in the suburbs, knocking down an overpass and damaging another. The IDF also continued its bombardment of southern Lebanon on Friday afternoon, bombing two bridges over the Hazharani river as well as a Hizbullah anti-aircraft missile base and a fuel depot in Talusia. Earlier on Friday, IDF forces foiled an infiltration attempt by Hizbullah operatives near an IDF post close to Zar'it on the northern border on Friday. Troops opened fire towards the infiltrators and clashes erupted in the area. Meanwhile, IAF fighter-bombers blasted Beirut International Airport in the third attack on the nation's sole international facility since the military offensive was launched against Lebanon three days ago. Airport officials said one of the three runways was hit with two missiles and Lebanese eyewitnesses reported that a nearby residential building was struck in the raid. No casualties were reported. About an hour before Friday's raid, the five remaining Airbus jets belonging to the national carrier Middle East Airlines flew to Amman for safety reasons, officials said. Early Friday, an Israeli plane also fired a missile at a fuel storage tank for the power station at Jiye on the Mediterranean coast in central Lebanon, just north of the port city of Sidon, witnesses said. The attack started a huge fire in the area, about 20 miles south of the Lebanese capital, but the power station itself was not hit. There were no immediate reports of casualties. |
| Posted by:Old Patriot |
| #24 ed, barrage of unguided Katushyas I know. "Muslim GPS" is just some Friday night humor on my part. |
| Posted by: Angock Flavitch6234 2006-07-14 23:47 |
| #23 I have no expertise regarding naval matters, but have read that helicopters have attacked targets in Beirut. I assume these were launched from naval vessels, hence the "line of sight" proximity of Israeli ships to the Lebanese coast. Comments? |
| Posted by: Kirk 2006-07-14 23:29 |
| #22 The merchant ship hit was by a (un)lucky hit from a barrage of unguided Katushyas. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-14 23:27 |
| #21 The Hizo's hit another ship while targeting additional Israeli Navy vessels. The Hizo's does score another hit but...but...but, it ends being a civilian merchant ship that belongs to ""drum roll please"" Egypt. Muslim GPS needs some more fine tuning. |
| Posted by: Angock Flavitch6234 2006-07-14 23:20 |
| #20 Looks like Iran upgraded Hizb to the "Ababil" with 40Kg payload and 300Km/h cruise speed. With those specs, it could easily be used as a small TV guided antiship missile. It would play havoc with loaded tankers. I hope the US Navy is paying attention. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-14 23:20 |
| #19 Article: This is a major warship operating in line of sight, but beyond normal nighttime visual range. This is key. I don't think the battleship USS New Jersey operated within line of sight when it pounded Lebanon in the 1980's after the Marine barracks bombing. The Israelis obviously want to get as close as possible so they can use shells instead of more expensive missiles. I think they're done with using shells until they learn how to jam enemy UAV frequencies. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-07-14 23:09 |
| #18 My prediction is that the U.S. Navy will expend 639 man-years explaining to congress critters and journalists how the US does things different. From what I know so far, this is a major fuck up for the Israelies, even if the Iranians are helping. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2006-07-14 23:07 |
| #17 Dave D.---You may not have to worry about things fizzling out after a few days. This just came up on Belmont Club : Haaretz has details on the attack which damaged an Israeli naval vessel, by an UAV, in the dark and while operating 16 km from the Lebanese coast. An explosives-laden drone, apparently launched by Hezbollah, hit an Israel Navy warship off the coast of Beirut, causing serious damage to its steering capability, Israel Defense Forces confirmed Friday night. The incident occurred at around 8:30 P.M., as the ship was some 16 kilometers from the Lebanese coast. The blast caused a fire close to the helicopter landing pad onboard. The ship's steering mechanism also sustained some damage. Several hours after the vessel was hit, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said the damage was worse than originally thought. She added that the ship, still burning, was being towed back to Israel. There were some 80 people on board the ship when it was hit. This is a major warship operating in line of sight, but beyond normal nighttime visual range. According to the Security Watchtower, the drone was probably a Mirsad-1. A Hezbollah unmanned aerial drone crashed into an Israeli warship off the Mediterranean coast on Friday, damaging the steering of the vessel. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah claimed the ship had been sunk. The UAV was likely a Mirsad-1, built by the Iranian state owned Qods Aviation Industry. On previous occasions, Nasrallah has boasted that "you can load the Mirsad plane with a quantity of explosive ranging from 40 to 50 kilos and send it to its target." In 2005, U.S. and Israeli intelligence noted that Iranian soldiers were stationed in southern Lebanon where they operated the Mirsad-1, eight of which are believed to have been given by Iran to Hezbollah. Reports indicate that an estimated 30 Hezbollah operatives have completed training in Isfahan, Iran. Asked about the threat of the UAV's, Joseph Cirincione, a weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said "the danger is that Hezbollah will now have the capability to inflict greater damage on Israel by more precise targeting." Commentary An attack at this distance, by night on a warship indicates a very high level of targeting skill. A capability beyond Hezbollah's own limited resources. This suggests that Iranian technical assistance to its client has been extensive and thorough. In some ways, this incident is reminiscent of the use of Saggers and integrated air defense by the Egyptian Army during the Yom Kippur War. Iran had anticipated what Israel would do and prepared for it. It is now not out of the question that Hezbollah may have MANPADs or very long range, perhaps even guided rockets. With what warheads we can only guess, but chemical is not out of the question. The stricken Israeli warship is major combatant on the scale of navies in the area. Although not sunk, it has been mission killed. This is a spectacular naval victory for Hezbollah. But it also brings Israel and Iran closer to direct combat. With proof that advanced weapons are now in the hands of Hezbollah, it becomes absolutely impossible for Israel to consider Hezbollah in isolation from its armorers. The diplomatic efforts to date are now imperiled by this grave development. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-07-14 21:59 |
| #16 Deka says is was a Saar-5 corvette, hit in the helicopter pad and buring for hours with 4 missing crewmen. Sheesh. Boys, you need to bounce the rubble all aross Hizbanistan. |
| Posted by: Brett 2006-07-14 21:27 |
| #15 About an hour before Friday's raid, the five remaining Airbus jets belonging to the national carrier Middle East Airlines flew to Amman for safety reasons, officials said. IDF left a runway long enuf? Weird. Buy Boeing. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-14 21:06 |
| #14 Fox says Hezbola hit a civilian boat. No other information at this time. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-07-14 20:59 |
| #13 Dave nails it. |
| Posted by: j. D. Lux 2006-07-14 20:52 |
| #12 LGF linking to reports the idiots hit an Egyptian ship with one of their toys. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-07-14 20:52 |
| #11 My worst fear is that this whole damn thing fizzles out over the next few days, to yet another damned inconclusive conclusion, without the Iranians giving us the perfect excuse to go absolutely flat-out, totally bugshit MEDIEVAL on their skanky ho' asses. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-07-14 20:46 |
| #10 Sooner or later, probably sooner, we will be drawn into this thing. Probably to keep Iran at bay. Fine. Let's have it out and be done with it before the MMs get nukes. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-07-14 20:42 |
| #9 I agree with Dave. In the end someday the final acts will be mushrooms over Qom, Mecca, Mediana, Damascus etc. Cause, Effect and Sanity are missing in that sick culture. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-07-14 20:10 |
| #8 "Are they really that sick?" Yes. They are that sick. Sick enough to buy the whiney-ass Arab bullshit that six million Jews (barely enough to populate the city and county of Philadelphia) occupying a nearly worthless chunk of real estate barely the size of New Jersey, are somehow magically causing ALL the problems of over a billion Muslims. Fuck it. FRY 'EM UP. As far as I'm concerned, Israel is more than welcome to do whatever it wants to secure its safety. And I mean WHATEVER. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-07-14 19:41 |
| #7 Sounds like the Izzie Navy airwatch wasn't paying attention. Hizb'allah had flown the Iranian “Mheger 4” ("Mirsad 1" Hizb name) UAV over Israel last year. The concern was that they could be loaded with explosives or CW and crash into packed crowds like a stadium. "Mirsad 1" It likely has only a 10-15Kg payload which is enough to heavily damage a small Patrol Boat, but would only scratch a larger metal boat. Of course Hizb could have received even larger Iranian UAVs. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-14 19:19 |
| #6 The war just got bigger. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2006-07-14 18:46 |
| #5 I suspect that most of the speculation and theories I see posted about the net are wrong at worst and hopefully optimisitic best. This is gonna get out of hand. But then wars always do. Why is it that the freakin world just cannot seem to notice that if left alone and to their own devices the Israelies just want to have fun and leave everyone else alone? Heck, they'd probably even be happy to show the arabs how to do something else besides whine and end up being their best friends. Are they really that sick? And by sick I mean in the worst sense of the mental term. And that's not even counting the arabs. |
| Posted by: kelly 2006-07-14 18:32 |
| #4 I thought Exocets were made by France. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-14 18:09 |
| #3 It’s real easy to strap some explosives on a UAV and ram it into a ship, but causing “severe” damage to ship with a UAV is a major step militarily. I wonder who gave it to them (eye cast toward Iran/Syria). |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-07-14 18:08 |
| #2 Okay then, 60+ years AFTER the West started using anti-ship missiles/drones, the Arabs catch on to the idea. Wonder if that UAV is the one South Africa under the ANC has been selling to Iran? |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-07-14 17:53 |
| #1 I was just over at Daily Kos, lookin at those drooling mongoloids' posts, I don't they even know there is a war breaking out in the ME. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-07-14 17:40 |