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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia sold Iran advanced radar.
2005-01-25
Debka. Sometimes they'fre awful, sometimes right on. One thing you'fve got to keep in mind is that Debka is apparently a channel for Israeli intelligence to release information (or disinformation).
That same week, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 189 revealed that Russian experts from the Raduga OKB engineering group in Dubna near Moscow had just completed the installation of two advanced radar systems around the Bushehr nuclear reactor on the Persian Gulf. These improved mobile 36D6 systems, Western codenamed Tin Shield, were custom-made to upgrade the air defense radar protecting Iran's key nuclear facilities from American or Israeli aerial, missile or cruise missile attack... However, the fat hit the fire when the Russians were discovered to be building the same system at Iran's uranium enrichment plants for military purposes in Isfahan in central Iran. It was taken to mean that Moscow has undertaken to secure all of Iran's nuclear industry from top to bottom ?Efrom the installation of sophisticated equipment to military planning and operational cooperation - against American or Israeli attack.
They go on to list some of the supposed capabilities of the system, and speculate that the Russkies might sell the same radar to Syria, and that the recent hub-bub over the SA-18s might be cover for that.
Posted by:Pete Stanley

#16  Just how does this type of radar protect you from an ICBM that is landing on top of your head?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-25 11:16:01 PM  

#15  Oh, and does this also apply (given Mark E's comment) to European weapons sales to Red China?

It's likely.
Posted by: Pappy   2005-01-25 7:01:28 PM  

#14  Thanks Pappy and OP. So in other words, we want the Russians to increase their sales of such things to Iran, so our troops can play a bit longer with their toys, yes? Oh, and does this also apply (given Mark E's comment) to European weapons sales to Red China?
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-25 6:39:27 PM  

#13  Bah.... I thought that the lesson of the first gulf war is that ex-soviet weapons (indeed, any weapons other than those built by americans (with certain exceptions)) were worthless. Good for keeping your populace under your iron boot, but not very combat effective. Money spent on them would be better spent on swiss bank accounts for when you have to flee suddenly.
Posted by: Mark E.   2005-01-25 6:01:16 PM  

#12  I'm sure it's quite easy to reconfigure a Tomahawk warhead to home in on a particular radar signature. Once within a given range, changing the 'signature' does no good - the missile has locked in on the coordinates, requires no further guidance. Done correctly (usually using three missiles, one with HE, another with WP, and a third GP), the antenna is taken out, the area is sprayed with 36,000 half-inch ball bearings at 3200fpm (does nasty things to control vans, generator vans, and human bodies that get in the way), and set afire. The alternative is a tac nuke to take out both the radar and the site it's trying to protect.

The thing to consider is the possibility of combining scramjet technology with other missile technology to attack installations like this. The missile will impact before the radar can identify it. I wonder just how advanced scramjet technology REALLY is...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-01-25 4:08:20 PM  

#11  Russkies can give and we or the Israelis will take away. Fire 1...
Posted by: Senator Barbara Boxer   2005-01-25 2:41:06 PM  

#10  Blast. Make that "I still don't understand..."

Preview doesn't help if you don't actually read and check the text.
Posted by: jackal   2005-01-25 2:26:18 PM  

#9  Frank: We referred to the GPS Jammers as "HARM beacons." I still understand the thinking that says "Here's a valuable target. Let's put a transmitter on top of it."
Posted by: jackal   2005-01-25 2:24:54 PM  

#8   I thought our guys like to do something that causes the radar installations to "light up" so they know where to send the missiles?

Wild Weasel
Posted by: Pappy   2005-01-25 1:25:44 PM  

#7  smn: The only way to counter threats like this, is for the US to tell Russia we could supply the Chechen resistence also; and the US knows this. We have both trump cards and 'Aces In The Hole' on this one!

The Russians will know it's a bluff. Having Muslims carve a nuclear-armed Islamic empire out of Russian soil isn't on the list of American priorities.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-01-25 12:24:18 PM  

#6  The only way to counter threats like this, is for the US to tell Russia we could supply the Chechen resistence also; and the US knows this. We have both trump cards and 'Aces In The Hole' on this one!
Posted by: smn   2005-01-25 12:16:48 PM  

#5  I thought our guys like to do something that causes the radar installations to "light up" so they know where to send the missiles?
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-25 12:15:43 PM  

#4  This time around, let's hope that Russia expert Condi Rice will have the foresight to approach Putin and ask, What's your price?

Russia's military export sector is desperate for cash. If we can wean them off of middle eastern basket-case clients-- who don't provide Russia any real clout in the region, only cash-- with a few billion $$, then it's money well spent.
Posted by: lex   2005-01-25 11:32:57 AM  

#3  hmmm - any of those oh so effective "GPS Jammers" also sold?
Posted by: Frank G   2005-01-25 11:11:44 AM  

#2  Even if the Russkies put up radar installations at various sites, what are the chances they would detect low-flying cruise missiles?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-01-25 10:35:08 AM  

#1  No real surprises here. Just about every European power sold weapons to the natives during the era of European imperialism. Did not prevent the natives from being conquered, even though many native sovereigns hired European officers to train and command native units armed with these weapons.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-01-25 9:48:45 AM  

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