Iran launches "space rocket...or missile".

Pat Flannery wrote:
Considering that it apparently went straight up into space, are the
hinting they are working on a direct ascent ABM like China has?
You know, the old sand bomb concept?

Nope. ICBM, SRBM, IRBM, whatever. Nuke. Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or
wherever. Their intentions have never been in doubt.

John Savard

Pat Flannery wrote:

:
:
:Allen Thomson wrote:
: And a homing kinetic-kill EKV is, for the next several years IMO,
: beyond them (2), though they might buy one from China or somebody
: else.
:
: (1) I think. I'm going to be really embarrassed if that's not the
: case.
:
: (2) See (1)
:
:
:They are capable of a lot more sophisticated technology than Iraq.
:They have made indigenous weapons, (and knock-offs of a lot of others)
:there are photos of them here, including their prototype stealth
:fighter:
:http://www.network54.com/Forum/39146...ection+is+done
:If we get in a fight with them, we are going to be going up against
:their copies of TOWs, Hawk, Rapier and Standard SAMs
:Giant Russian SA-5s, Exocet knock-offs, Shkval torpedoes capable of
:going over 200 knots, Cobra helicopters, turbojet powered antiship
:missiles and all sorts of other goodies.
:They won't be a pushover like Iraq.

Yeah, right. Just remember, Iraq fought them to a standstill with a
much smaller force.

They would be as meats in the hands of our warriors...

--
"Most people don't realize it, but ninety percent of morality is based
on comfort. Incinerate hundreds of people from thirty thousand feet
up and you'll sleep like a baby afterward. Kill one person with a
bayonet and your dreams will never be sweet again."
-- John Rain, "Rain Storm"

Rand Simberg wrote:
No, it's probably just a propaganda ploy to say that they launched
into space (you know, just as a lot of people here accuse Rutan of
doing).


Considering its range (800 miles) any of the Shahab-3s should have gone
into space as part of their normal trajectory.

Pat

Quadibloc wrote:
But for the big jobs, you just have to push a few buttons.

And, if our estimates of Iran's nuclear reprocessing are just a little
bit off, it won't even have to be a nuclear *first* strike. If they
*do* launch a nuclear-armed missile at Israel, say, *next week*, I
hope it doesn't quite hit its intended target, but, say, some spot in
the Sinai peninsula where there aren't even any Egyptians to kill,
just a lot of sand to make radioactive.

It could happen at any moment, since the leadership of Iran has made
it very clear that it is willing to attack Israel.


You can knock out Iran's nuclear facilities without having to resort to
atomic attack.
Particularly since they were nice enough to take reporters on a tour of
them a couple of weeks back, so everyone knows exactly where the
centrifuges are.
And all those zillion centrifuges they are installing to enrich uranium
take a lot of electricity to operate.
You knock out the power station that supplies them with electricity, and
they cease to function.
Then there are the hidden nuclear facilities in the hollowed-out mountains.
What happens if you blow up the entrances of the tunnels that lead into
them, and the ventilation systems that supply them with air?
In the words of Jean-Paul Sart "Au revoir, go-pher".

Pat

Quadibloc wrote:
Nope. ICBM, SRBM, IRBM, whatever. Nuke. Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or
wherever. Their intentions have never been in doubt.


Oh, I think their true intentions are very much in doubt...they are
doing everything possible to make sure the world knows they are the new
bad boy on the block... and if enough nice things are offered to them to
stop their nuclear program....well then...maybe a deal _could_ be
arranged, just like it was with North Korea.
This whole "Iranian Nuclear Crisis" hits full swing around the time
Russia starts balking about finishing up those reactors they were
building for Iran and supplying fuel for them with no strings attached,
after the fall of the Russian energy "oligarchs":
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/wo...an/bushehr.htm
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world...2005-9896r.htm
Since Iran has a power shortage due to its powerplants switching from
oil to gas:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/wo...hehr-intro.htm
Getting some Western powers to build them some nice safe light water
reactors free of charge would be a really sweet deal for them. Missile
technology may not be the only thing they are cooperating with North
Korea on; a little nuclear blackmail scam of the West also is a real
possibility.
Since we've already caved in response to North Korea in regards to
energy for disarmament:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/arti...012191,00.html
.....there's a very good chance this will work for Iran also.
The whole thing has a touch of "The Mouse On the Moon" about it. :-D

Pat

Fred J. McCall wrote:
Yeah, right. Just remember, Iraq fought them to a standstill with a
much smaller force.

Iran was in chaos after the revolution; they've had a lot of time to
regroup and re-equip since then.

They would be as meats in the hands of our warriors...


That's right; a lot of our troops must be getting pretty sexually
frustrated by now, and it might be time to screw with Iran instead of
themselves. ;-)

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote:

:
:
:Fred J. McCall wrote:
: Yeah, right. Just remember, Iraq fought them to a standstill with a
: much smaller force.
:
:Iran was in chaos after the revolution; they've had a lot of time to
:regroup and re-equip since then.

But we don't see any huge tactical innovations in their methods of
warfare.

: They would be as meats in the hands of our warriors...
:
:That's right; a lot of our troops must be getting pretty sexually
:frustrated by now, and it might be time to screw with Iran instead of
:themselves. ;-)

It's why we have a coed military...

--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn

In article .com,
Quadibloc wrote:
It could happen at any moment, since the leadership of Iran has made
it very clear that it is willing to attack Israel.

No, they've made it very clear that they want us to think that.

It's not at all the same thing.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Fred J. McCall wrote:
But we don't see any huge tactical innovations in their methods of
warfare.


Except that now they are going to rely on sophisticated equipment rather
than human wave attacks?
Any country that's getting input from Russia on stealth fighter design
might bear watching:
http://www.irandefence.net/showthread.php?t=640
It just struck me why that thing looks like it has a flying saucer stuck
in its midsection.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...q-image3-s.jpg
http://www.aeronautics.ru/img/img006/mig_i-2000_001.jpg
That's the Russian plasma stealth generator to wrap the plane in ionized
air that absorbs radar waves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_stealth
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/10/19/stealth.shtml

Pat

On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:47:55 GMT, in a place far, far away,
(Henry Spencer) made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

In article .com,
Quadibloc wrote:
It could happen at any moment, since the leadership of Iran has made
it very clear that it is willing to attack Israel.

No, they've made it very clear that they want us to think that.

It's not at all the same thing.

And Saddam made it very clear that he wanted the world to think that
he had WMD. Whether true or not, it's a potentially suicidal thing to
do.