Originally Posted by
Hangarless
Lindsay Graham saying tonight that it looks like we're moving to force and that we should give Israel whatever it wants in order to remove any nuclear threat which would suggest negotiating time is over.
Senator Graham might want to look up the term 'blowback.' There was a joint declaration/statement issued this morning by the governments of all of the Arab Muslim nations condemning Israel's continued attack, and calling for a return to negotiations.
While it is possibly a case of 'jaw jaw' only, I think that they are getting uncomfortable at the ease with which Israel is undressing a major regional power.
There but for the grace of Allah go I ... could be running through the minds of various leaders in the Gulf States.
Originally Posted by
MechEngr
Would an interceptor missile/ SAM be able to sufficiently damage the expected bunker-buster weapon that Trump is apparently waving the flag about dropping on the
Natanz nuclear facility? AFAIK the B-2 won't be completely stealthy when the doors open and isn't going to be very stealthy with an external store; that should give the defense a bit of time when all of a sudden a target appears without any previous track. Radar should be able to track the bomb, but it certainly should be visible in the far IR against the sky.
With a coherent Integrated Air Defense System in place, yes. Trouble is, the Israelis have dismantled a goodly portion of that air defense system, are now flying aircraft over Iran dropping bombs, and as stated in one of the articles further up have created a breach in the Air Defense of Iran.
“Over the past 24 hours, we completed an aerial route to Tehran and conducted an aerial breaching battle,” said Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israeli Chief of General Staff. “IAF pilots are flying at great risk to their lives, hundreds of kilometres away from Israel, striking hundreds of different targets with precision.”
With Iran’s air defences largely disabled, older Israeli aircraft like the F-15 and F-16 have joined the fight. These now deploy short-range
JDAM and Spice-guided bombs—cheap, widely available, and deadly.
For that brief indiscretion by the B-2 as it gets to weapons release, which you mentioned, there might not be anyone to 'see' that on radar.
On an amusing note from the Hindustan Times:
Israel claimed to have destroyed two Iranian F-14 fighter jets at Tehran’s airport, releasing footage of the strike. However, Iran countered that the jets were actually decoys, suggesting Israel was misled by a “fake planes” ploy. The incident comes amid intense missile and drone exchanges between the two countries, with both sides escalating operations and targeting military assets and infrastructure.
I guess
Topgun 3: The Last of the Tomcats is still a possibility.
Originally Posted by
ORAC
Two tankers collided and on fire in the Straits of Hormuz.
Heavy jamming has denied GPS and other guidance systems for several days and ships are having to navigate visually or by alternate means
Children of the Magenta Line, Maritime Edition.
