Precision of Israeli strike
Nope, pretty sure it was GBU-44 Viper Strike http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2006psa_apr/borden.pdf
Look at the slides in the link, low collateral, near verticle engagement, good for "Danger Close" to 50 metres
and fitted to a variety of platforms.
My guess would by a UAV or small helicopter was the platform.
LJ
Look at the slides in the link, low collateral, near verticle engagement, good for "Danger Close" to 50 metres
and fitted to a variety of platforms.My guess would by a UAV or small helicopter was the platform.
LJ
You can see the entry hole in the roof as it blows away after the initial explosion.
Seems like a very specialised bit of kit, just enough blast and flame but, not alot of frag, judging from the lack of small holes in the surviving (car)body panels. Is it a special anti SUV/car munition?
OAP
Seems like a very specialised bit of kit, just enough blast and flame but, not alot of frag, judging from the lack of small holes in the surviving (car)body panels. Is it a special anti SUV/car munition?
OAP
Last edited by Onceapilot; 17th Nov 2012 at 11:27.
GBU-44, nail on the head?
After watching the product footage, especially seeing the vehicle damage toward the end, it could certainly be the mystery munition.
Released from high enough (Israeli modded C-130?) it could loiter for a brief period under its own chute, before cutting the cord and going terminal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyju...e_gdata_player
Think we may have a winner.
Released from high enough (Israeli modded C-130?) it could loiter for a brief period under its own chute, before cutting the cord and going terminal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyju...e_gdata_player
Think we may have a winner.
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Who cares what they whacked him with. Does it matter? The point is the weapon was superbly accurate and collateral damage was nil or all but nil. Most impressive.
But what is far more impressive to me is how they managed to identify that vehicle so well. That was the really clever part of the op as it is far from easy to do that with confidence and that's surely where the real story is. Precision bombs have been around for many years so the flash-bang was old hat. Getting it to the right place was the trick.
As for reading anything into lack of graticules etc on the video, I rather think that it could have occurred to the Israeli military that too much of that might be a give away and they took steps to remove it. I suspect they might just be smart enough to have come up with that idea all by themselves...
As to booby trapped road - far too imprecise to work.
But not as fanciful as energy weapons exploding the fuel tank - that really is pie-in-the-sky stuff.
A designator or beacon of some sort attached to the car is more feasible but even that would be very hard to achieve given the security involved around the subject.
Forget James Bond solutions, as we know the simple ways work best. Some sort of real-time surveillance to maintain a positive id on the car and a standoff weapon from a UAV or other covert-ish platform is my guess.
And unlike the in the Lybian or Gulf wars they don't want the recipients to know what weapons are ranged against them so no graticules and gridlines, just creepily clear video and no clues beyond that remarkable pic of the hole in the car's roof. Keep Hamas (and us) guessing. Be very afraid. And I bet it's working.
But what is far more impressive to me is how they managed to identify that vehicle so well. That was the really clever part of the op as it is far from easy to do that with confidence and that's surely where the real story is. Precision bombs have been around for many years so the flash-bang was old hat. Getting it to the right place was the trick.
As for reading anything into lack of graticules etc on the video, I rather think that it could have occurred to the Israeli military that too much of that might be a give away and they took steps to remove it. I suspect they might just be smart enough to have come up with that idea all by themselves...
As to booby trapped road - far too imprecise to work.
But not as fanciful as energy weapons exploding the fuel tank - that really is pie-in-the-sky stuff.
A designator or beacon of some sort attached to the car is more feasible but even that would be very hard to achieve given the security involved around the subject.
Forget James Bond solutions, as we know the simple ways work best. Some sort of real-time surveillance to maintain a positive id on the car and a standoff weapon from a UAV or other covert-ish platform is my guess.
And unlike the in the Lybian or Gulf wars they don't want the recipients to know what weapons are ranged against them so no graticules and gridlines, just creepily clear video and no clues beyond that remarkable pic of the hole in the car's roof. Keep Hamas (and us) guessing. Be very afraid. And I bet it's working.
Last edited by Agaricus bisporus; 17th Nov 2012 at 15:26.
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@ Agaricus bisporus
Yes but the toxic effect goes far beyond the immediate target according to
Dense Inert Metal Explosive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The carcinogenic effects of heavy metal tungsten alloys (HMTA) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000 (along with depleted uranium (DU)). These alloys were found to cause neoplastic transformations of human osteoblast cells.[4]
A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study in 2005 found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma cancers in rats.[5]
The tungsten alloy carcinogenicity may be most closely related to the nickel content of the alloys used in weapons to date. However, pure tungsten and tungsten trioxide are also suspected of causing cancer and other toxic properties, and have been shown to have such effects in animal studies.[6]
In 2009, a group of Italian scientists affiliated with the watchdog group New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC) pronounced DIME wounds "untreatable" because the powdered tungsten cannot be removed surgically.[7]
So despite the seemingly obvious primary benefits these weapons are being deployed as if the "collateral" were worth nothing more than dogs.
Dense Inert Metal Explosive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The carcinogenic effects of heavy metal tungsten alloys (HMTA) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000 (along with depleted uranium (DU)). These alloys were found to cause neoplastic transformations of human osteoblast cells.[4]
A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study in 2005 found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma cancers in rats.[5]
The tungsten alloy carcinogenicity may be most closely related to the nickel content of the alloys used in weapons to date. However, pure tungsten and tungsten trioxide are also suspected of causing cancer and other toxic properties, and have been shown to have such effects in animal studies.[6]
In 2009, a group of Italian scientists affiliated with the watchdog group New Weapons Research Committee (NWRC) pronounced DIME wounds "untreatable" because the powdered tungsten cannot be removed surgically.[7]
So despite the seemingly obvious primary benefits these weapons are being deployed as if the "collateral" were worth nothing more than dogs.
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I suggest they shouldn't go around throwing rockets then should they?
Lets not forget who was dancing in the streets on September 11, 2001. It wasn't just Hamas.
I suggest if you are within 40 times the diameter of the weapon, you are probably the target anyway.
Lets not forget who was dancing in the streets on September 11, 2001. It wasn't just Hamas.
I suggest if you are within 40 times the diameter of the weapon, you are probably the target anyway.
Last edited by VinRouge; 17th Nov 2012 at 20:33.
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Heaven above, GR! Get over it! I didn't mention DIME as it happened but if it reduces collateral damage its probably a good thing isn't it? Perhaps it was a normal charge. Is that somehow different? But if you get too upset at the thought of even that suggest you leave your TV switched off and give up reading the Grauniad - it only encourages unnecessary anxiety.
Omelette, eggs? Familiar? Jeez, this isn't a batman movie where no one gets hurt you know - these bastards are flinging unguided rockets willy-nilly into residential areas and you're getting exercised if a passer-by or two is maybe hurt maybe not when the thug-in-chief gets nixed - when they could be lazily using thousand pounders to make sure of it, and take out a whole neighbourhood too?
Ain't going to be a solution if they throw cotton-wool balls at the problem you know. Anyway, cotton wool can cause anaphylaxis in some people.
Omelette, eggs? Familiar? Jeez, this isn't a batman movie where no one gets hurt you know - these bastards are flinging unguided rockets willy-nilly into residential areas and you're getting exercised if a passer-by or two is maybe hurt maybe not when the thug-in-chief gets nixed - when they could be lazily using thousand pounders to make sure of it, and take out a whole neighbourhood too?
Ain't going to be a solution if they throw cotton-wool balls at the problem you know. Anyway, cotton wool can cause anaphylaxis in some people.
But what is far more impressive to me is how they managed to identify that vehicle so well. That was the really clever part of the op as it is far from easy to do that with confidence and that's surely where the real story is. Precision bombs have been around for many years so the flash-bang was old hat. Getting it to the right place was the trick.
As to D.I.M.E.: I find it interesting that when a weapons goes off someone is now worried that later in life they may catch cancer.
FFS, folks, weapons are generally meant to kill now, not in 5-10 years time.
