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| Middle East |
| Hamas Says Israel Killed at Least 6 in Gaza Blast |
| 2003-02-19 |
| At least six members of the Palestinian group Hamas died in a mysterious explosion in Gaza City today, hours after Israel's defense minister vowed retaliation for a Hamas bombing in Gaza on Saturday that destroyed an Israeli tank and killed the four soldiers inside. Hamas blamed Israel for the blast today, suggesting that the men were killed by a booby-trapped toy plane. But the Israeli government did not comment on the deaths. Israel has tracked down and killed scores of militants, often without claiming responsibility. Many have also died by accidentally triggering bombs they were assembling. In Gaza, the bomb went off as several Hamas militants sat in a car near a farmhouse in a southern neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian officials said. One of those killed was Nidal Farahat, a top leader of the military wing of Hamas. Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader of Hamas, said one of the men was examining a strange toy found in the car when the explosion occurred. "This is an assassination done by Israel," he said. Later, in a statement, Hamas said the men had been working on a small remote-controlled plane, which they evidently planned to use in an attack. Hamas said the men had received the plane today, implying that it had been booby-trapped by Israel. Another leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, said, "We're going to retaliate." That would be one of the model planes that DEBKA reported on in January, and I reported here: Model planes packed with explosives and operated by remote control. Last month, Palestinian toy importers in Jerusalem and Ramallah were told to order hundreds of these toys for distribution to Palestinian children in hospitals. Subsidies from European Union member-governments could legitimately be allocated to this humanitarian purpose. The model airplanes were purchased in Europe and shipped quite openly to the Palestinian shopkeepers. According to our sources, not a single toy reached an injured Palestinian child. The model planes were sent to Palestinian workshops for conversion into miniature air bombers with explosive payloads. DebkaFile estimated that the modified toys could fly for about a kilometer, and an altitude of 300 meters. So DEBKA scores another one. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 The Cheap Option: Off the shelf handheld GPS, Gyros, and a common off the shelf motherboard/CPU combo, with off-the-shelf mapping software, a couple of grand and it sounds like you could come pretty close to a system that could be put in a drone -style RC aircraft. The Expensive Option: Off the shelf GPS Slaved Outpilot systems for any General Aviation Aircraft. Is it me or am I hearing more than the usual background noise about "drones" lately? What is it that they would get with a drone that they wouldnt get with microlight piloted aircraft? |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-02-19 23:41:29 |
| #8 Shhh Steve, this ain't a forum (see top). But, do/can they have gyros? I mean, could you get them airbourne and set them on auto trim? Can't see they're an improvement on mortars or rockets, myself... |
| Posted by: Deleteme 2003-02-19 18:06:30 |
| #7 My father and brother fly RC airplanes, and I've been around them all my life. If the Paleos are ordering consumer models of these airplanes, they usually weigh in between 5 and 15 lbs, and are powered by 0.45 to 1.2 cu.in. engines. Some big ones now are using 4-cycle, gasoline powered engines similar to or identical to what you find in gas-powered weed whackers. The engines generally have a muffler; with that at an altitude of say 400 feet the sound would be noticable in a quiet (desert) environment but not in a city environment. The "payload" on these might be a couple of pounds (2 lbs of C-4 could do some damage). The radio controllers use one of a defined set of frequencies (last I heard it was ~72 MHz in the US but that might have changed; I try NOT to listen to my father and brother :-) and have 3 to 6 channels. To make one go boom you'd have one channel set to control a servo that would work a detonator. That in turn could be as simple as a circuit and a AA battery. The transmitters have line of sight range to the horizon. My dad used to fly RC gliders from the back of a pickup truck driven by a friend; so you could move about to keep the plane in sight. I imagine this would bring a strong response from the IDF. Consumer models sold in the U.S. (almost all made in the far East) have the usual FCC-required shielding for interference; I imagine their radiated signal would be easily noted with appropriate detection gear. Pre-built, "ready-to-fly" kits would run $40 to $200, an engine would be $50 to $150, and a 4 channel radio rig would be $100 to $300. Flying these takes some practice, most beginners crash and break their first several planes. A Paleo RC plane bomber would have to get some proficiency; this takes perhaps 20 to 50 hours practice. After that it would be rather simple to fly a plane out towards and onto a potential target, particularly if you have a spotter working for you. Frank G notes one simple countermeasure. It's consumer quality equipment so this is certainly possible. I'm sure there are others; the IDF isn't talking :-) Hope this helps the discussion! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-02-19 17:51:19 |
| #6 Anonymous, I think you mean V-1? Not half as sophisticated or practical as the Germans' efforts back in the 40s though, as these birds would be easily jammed, as said before... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-02-19 17:11:00 |
| #5 I didn't realize Wiley Coyote was working for Hamas these days. Still buying his gadgets from Acme. Beep, beep, Ka Boom! |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-02-19 14:42:42 |
| #4 Is it just me or does this sound like a V-2. Wonder if those toy planes came from Germany, if so it would be ironic. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-19 14:36:21 |
| #3 you think they'd learn: www.idftoys.com is selling em so cheap ...for a reason friggin dumbasses.... and tell me the Israelis don't know how radio controlled devices can be steered the wrong way (!) with an overriding signal... "good work mahmoud!... finally one's taken off to implement our evil plot against the Zionists...wait, it's coming back! no!" when they have to revert to such rube goldberg designs you know they're scraping the bottom of the barrel |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-19 13:43:40 |
| #2 Ah, the old " Magic Booby Trapped Remote Controlled Plane Trick". Another "work accident" is my bet. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-02-19 12:33:18 |
| #1 Here's a radical idea: Cut off all but food aid to the paleos, and tell them to just grow the f*** up. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-02-19 11:46:19 |