Posted on 01/24/2006 5:48:30 PM PST by blam
Iran races to defend nuclear facilities
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent and Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor
(Filed: 25/01/2006)
Iran is racing to dig a network of tunnels and upgrade its air defences to protect its nuclear facilities from possible attacks by America or Israel, it was reported yesterday.
Israel this week issued thinly-veiled warnings that it has drawn up plans for pre-emptive strikes against Iran. The United States insists it will not take the military option "off the table".
Seeking to avoid a repeat of Israel's 1981 air raid on Osiraq, Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued orders for the underground complexes to be completed by the beginning of July, Jane's Defence Weekly reported.
It said the network of facilities deep underground or in the sides of mountains has been built with help from North Korean designers.
Atomic inspectors discovered in 2003 that Iran was building a vast underground complex to enrich uranium near the town of Natanz.
But other facilities, such as the uranium conversion plant in Isfahan, are still above ground and exposed to attack.
Iran insists it only seeks to develop a nuclear industry for "peaceful" purposes, but the West is convinced it is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Teheran provoked an international crisis earlier this month when it restarted the enrichment programme, under the guise of "research", after it had been frozen for two years during negotiations with European countries.
At an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna next week, western countries will seek to report Teheran to the United Nations for possible sanctions.
How long are we, and/or the Israelis going to wait before a strike is made? The longer we wait, the tougher it will be to take them out.
Boy, that'll learn 'em....
While the mad mullahs are busy digging tunnels and burying their nukes a mile underground, the Mossad is busy getting their home addresses and travel schedules. This attack will not be on the regime's toys, but on the regime itself. Kill Ahmadinejad and the other nutcases, and there's nobody to order the nukes launched, plus a sane Iranian government might succeed to power.
(Filed: 25/01/2006)
The Telegraph (UK)
The BBC yesterday accused the Iranian authorities of blocking access to its Persian-language website.
The corporation said use of the site from within Iran had fallen substantially over the past three days and claimed it was being blocked "at the request of the authorities".
Nigel Chapman, director of the BBC World Service, said they were "very concerned" by the development and would request that Teheran reinstated access to BBC services for the Iranian public.
Silkworm Missile Suspected in Kuwaiti Blast
Friday, March 28, 2003
The "Silkworm" — believed to be the missile that exploded near a major shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday — is a Chinese-made version of the Soviet Styx, a crude but sometimes effective anti-ship missile.
The Silkworm has a 1-ton explosive warhead and a range of about 50 miles. It flies a sea-skimming horizontal course, using an on-board radar guidance system that homes in randomly on the first — or biggest — major ship, building or other target that it picks up.
Patriots — geared against aircraft and high-altitude missiles — probably could not pick a Silkworm up on radar.
Silkworms, or HY-1s, were used during the Iraq-Iran "tanker war" in the Persian Gulf in 1987-88 — but by Iran, not Iraq. An Iranian Silkworm was fired from a launcher in Iraq's Faw peninsula, then occupied by Iran. It hit one of the 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers that had been "reflagged" with the U.S. flag to qualify for U.S. Navy escort through the Gulf.
Kuwait was then backing Baghdad in the Iraq-Iran war that lasted from 1980 to 1988.
The tanker was moored at Kuwait's main coastal terminal, loading oil, when the Silkworm crashed into its bridge, causing massive damage and blinding the American captain. It was the only confirmed incident of a Silkworm hitting a target during the war, although Iran had numerous batteries along its coast, especially in the vital Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82537,00.html
Iran successfully tests surface-to-sea missiles
Iran has successfully tested surface-to-sea missiles with a range of 110 kilometers (68 miles), Iranian state television reported Monday.
The testing of the Silkworm missiles was the most important project of Monday's military maneuvers in southern Iran, the television said.
It said the Silkworms have a speed of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per second and a range of 110 kilometers (68 miles). They can detect targets from a distance of 15 kilometers (9 miles) and have the capacity to destroy a warship.
The report did not say whether the missiles could carry nuclear warheads.
Iran's armed forces began their biggest military maneuvers Friday in national waters in the Sea of Oman and Indian Ocean, close to Pakistan. The drills involved submarines, warships, missiles, jet fighters and gunships.
On Sunday, Iran commissioned its second domestically-built submarine, a vessel that can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.
According to recent reports, Germany has agreed to sell Israel two Dolphin submarines for a deeply discounted price. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, it has the capability to launch cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran produces the Shahab-3 missile, capable of reaching Israel and US forces stationed in the region. Since 1992, it also has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane
Am I missing something here? Looks to me like the Khomeiniacs are making tombs for their nuclear scientists. Sounds ok to me.
The Launch window gets smaller and smaller,
Earth insertion burn in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,........
Amadinejad, would you like to play a game?
How about global thermonuclear war???
Wouldn't it be great if we made all this noise about their nuclear sites knowing they would move heaven and earth to protect them at all cost, and all the time we are preparing to move in quickly and occupy their oil fields and associated infrastructure? They would be up the creek without their oil income and that would bring all of their foolishness to quick halt. Presto, we control the flow of oil, thereby calming the oil market and someone else takes over Iran.
Now on the next problem.
Better take that road trip now rather than later.
Either that, or the oil fields will be seized as part of this, and prices might actually drop.
I still wonder what the Ragheads woild do if we just announced we were going in to destroy the facilities and then we are going to leave? If their Army tried to stop us, well, to bad for them. Would the Irians fight? Would there people support them? I wonder
D'OH!
My personal preference is just about 5-6 laser guided munitions in the 1000-2000 pound category for "decapitating" strike with rapid follow up with Strategic Support Branch and the other special operators to kill every engineer/scientist/specialist that we can find.
Let the Israelis take the heat and or credit if they want it otherwise just say it was an "internal insurrection/civil war" between factions in the Iranian leadership.
I'd also hit Syria about 4-5 hours after Iran while everybody is looking at that blood bath, nobody will notice 1-2 explosions that unfortunately killed the Syrian leadership..... just some disgruntled suicide bomber settling a score.
After the Democrats and Muslims unknot their panties we can let them know that maybe we had something to do with it.
It's gonna be a kewl summer.
I think not. Try "per hour". Certainly dangerous to civilian shipping. Not dangerous to US warships, which have a layered air defense of radar-directed missiles designed to hit sea skimmers, plus jamming and chaff to fool their unsophisticated homing mechanisms, and phalanx close defense guns to shoot them down if those fail.
Gimme a break. With the weapons we have I'm sure we can destroy the facilities within 24 hours. The only time that is too late is after they have weapons and launch/delivery capabilities.
yes data is wrong its m/s,
but silkworms are for tankers
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