| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| ATACMS in action |
| 2003-11-21 |
| Hat tip: Kim du Toit. Edited for brevity. Last night, the Jihadi air defense pickets were trumped by an unidentified "satellite guided missile" with a 500 pound warhead which slammed into an Islamist training camp in Northern Iraq. The missile was probably an Army ATACMS artillery round, one version of which is GPS-guided. The system has a 300-kilometer range and is semi-ballistic. That gives it several very scary tactical properties, the first of which is that the projectile arrives faster than the speed of sound from the edge of space. You will never hear it coming. MANPADs cannot even begin to track it. The second is that it has a relatively short time of flight. Unlike air missions, which must often be planned hours or days in advance and may arrive after the enemy has scattered or gone to ground, a Special Forces reconnaissance unit can hammer a Jihadi encampment with a literal bolt from the blue upon transmitting the target grid coordinates. In many ways, the ATACMS functions like a very long range equivalent of the Israeli helicopter missile ambush tactic, which has been responsible for killing many Jihadi terrorists, often while riding in their cars. The Israelis have always struggled with concealing the approach of the attack helicopter from their targets and have typically camouflaged its onset by flying a number of other aircraft in the vicinity. The ATACMS, being faster than its own sound, arrives unannounced. One disadvantage of the missile is its great cost and inability to engage a moving target. In that respect, the Israeli helicopter missile ambush is superior. And while its time of flight is short, ATACMS is not instantaneous. That limits ATACMS to targets that have momentarily stopped, such an encampments or safe houses. If the US Army can develop a cheap 35 pound round (105 mm equivalent) with an equivalent range, Special Forces or Iraqi agents working for the coalition could plink jihadi security positions, pickets, sentries, or columns at rest with complete surprise. Do you pronounce the ATACMS acronym as "Attack ’ems"? That’d be so fitting... |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #9 beautiful...... |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-21 10:38:35 PM |
| #8 The cost per unit will drop significantly if we increase their usage. I work in manufacturing. Add 2nd and 3rd shift to the plant immediately. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-21 7:38:32 PM |
| #7 The system has a 300-kilometer range 300 clicks?? Holy Reach Out and Touch Someone, Batman!! Doctrinally, the MLRS was supposed to be used for counter battery fire, but Good Lord, they can virtually strike air bases at that range. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-11-21 3:08:33 PM |
| #6 Dakotah - AAARRGGHHH!!! Fred's programming is a bit too sophisticated for its own good. Email me, and I'll send you the information BEFORE Fred's program converts it. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-21 1:08:39 PM |
| #5 Dakotah: RE, IMBEDDED LINKS. link Use the full URL (Uniform reference locator - I.E., web address) for the first link, and a descriptive placename for the second link: I.E., Turkey bombings |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-21 1:06:35 PM |
| #4 Apparently I need to attend "embedded link class" along with Murat. The link is http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/atacms.htm |
| Posted by: Dakotah 2003-11-21 12:25:25 PM |
| #2 I believe that ATACMS is pronounced "The Hand of God smiting the Wicked" in Arabic... |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-11-21 12:06:17 PM |
| #1 Dar, if they didn't before, they will now. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-21 11:37:14 AM |