Report: Israeli Jets Destroyed Syrian Nuke Cache

Fox News ^ | 09/16/07 | Fox News

[NY.SS-Bar9]

It was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F-15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.[SNIP]

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

[pfflier]

Taking out air defenses is a painfully slow process and is a sure sign that something bigger is coming.

Since Syria is acting as a surrogate state for Iran this may have been the demo for Iran. And, it may be a wake-up for them that all that crap being spouted that it was a mathematic certainty they wouldn't be attacked, has been exponentially factored downward.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

“Air defense” is a wide and loose definition that encompasses all of its components, therefore jamming radar and other wireless systems associated with “air defense” would make the claim factually and tactically correct.

I remember well during Gulf war I, as the Marines feinted coming ashore into Kuwait and Iraq saddam turned on all of his defensive radar, etc......only to quickly see Gen Swartzkopf on teevee explaining that the US had its recorders running to pinpoint every site that went on during the feint, and that we were already methodically destroying every single site identified, LOL.

You can bet that the US and Israel took notice of every site in syria that came online actively when Israel entered syrian airspace.......once recorded for posterity (LOL), everything was jammed, hence “dead”.....but duly noted.....not only “air defense” but the whole command/control system. Plus the syrians et al lost whatever was up as re nukes. A good and worthwhile hours work, I’d say, esp w/no shootdown and the syrian red faces.

[small voice in the wilderness]

An audacious raid

It was a bodacious raid! tick tick Damascus, your days on Earth are numbered.

[BenNighthumpCamel]

Did I miss something?...When did all this occur?

[small voice in the wilderness]

the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment

That there's yer answer. But I like "It was just after midnight" better. It sounds..so...ominous. For Damascus.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

addendum:

the article says “northern syria, 50 miles from Iraq”

click anywhere on this map to enlarge it so you can read the scale legend and gauge 50 miles......”northern” fairly means anywhere more than halfway up the eastern border of syria......beyond the Israeli concerns, this area faces directly into Iraq, and specifically where the bulk of our GI’s are......and I’d bet that Iran revealed some of their installations in the same manner during this brief but well-coordinated episode. If you believe in the psywar speculation of the hot-tipped Cruisers that “mistakenly” found their way to Louisiana under the wings of a B-52 recently, it is only a short jump in logic to see the current events as making the mouthiest of the bad guys a bit nervous....

[EQAndyBuzz]

“I’m trying to figure out the scenario in which nuking Israel makes any sense for Syria.”

It doesn’t. What it does is provides terrorists within Israel and the mideast the ability to acquire small nukes to smuggle into Israel. Idea being, “Israel was just nuked. Where did it come from?” So who could Israel attack?

Iran cannot deliver a nuke to Israel. It will have to fly over Iraq and by the time it is launched, Israel and the US will know it is on its way.

I think Syria is picking up where the Libyans left off. Not too smart a move.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“If the Israelis have found a way of immediately disabling air defenses over a wide area, it would be an extremely valuable capability.”

My bet is Israel has a couple of Raptors.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

I forgot the map link, sorry...

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/syria_rel90.jpg

[rbg81]

I dunno about jamming. You really need to study a system thoroughly before you know how best to jam it. Ideally, you capture one, take it apart, put it back together, and the then exploit the heck out of it against your existing EW systems. Jamming techniques are very system specific—what works against one may get you killed against another. Thus, jamming for the sake of it can actually make you more of a target if you don’t know what you’re doing. If the Syrians were using the newer Russian systems, those are very tough to beat. Not sure that we even know how to do it yet.

On the other hand, even a sophisticated air defense system is just about useless unless its in the hands of a well trained, seasoned crew. And something tells me the Syrians don’t have a lot of these. Coming in low and fast against an inexperienced adversary will compress the engagement and make them wet their pants in the process.

Being able to locate emitters is great if you have a fixed site. However, today, most AD sites are mobile. So, knowing their precise location won’t do you much good even 2 hours after they stop radiating.

[KarlInOhio]

Has anyone heard of any results of air samples in the region? It is hard to destory something without getting some into the air. It would be interesting to know if sensors downwind detected radiation or chemical residue.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

Jamming techniques are very system specific

Yeh yeh......overloading the right frequency works every time, yes?

if the “dead” claim is correct, they did it somehow, and but for a genuine EMP which we’d have surely heard about by now, that leaves overloading a whole bunch of bandwidth after locations were noted for long enough for the Israeli pilots to beat feet to and from their target.....perhaps even with a stop in Iraq for a quick paint-job, LOL

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Another significant technique was the Israeli feint of pulling troops away from the Golan, sending the message that the temperature was being reduced. Its right out of Sun Tzu.

[rbg81]

Yeh yeh......overloading the right frequency works every time, yes?

---

Not really. Some systems filter out signals if it doesn’t come from the exact angle of the pulse they sent out. Also, keeping track of the “right” frequency is difficult (really impossible) if they are doing random frequency hopping.

[section9]

This is my guess:

It sounds to me as if Kim sold his nuclear material to the Iranians. The Syrians acted as brokers for the sale, collecting their cut of the proceeds and acting as transfer agent. The U-235 or Pu-238, along with the casings made in North Korea, would have been transferred to Tehran on Syrian military aircraft with IRGC personnel on board. Boy President gets some money and distracts attention away from Syria in long run. He wins.

And so does Kim. He gets cold cash for Bomb material he really can't use anymore.

The Israelis, who have spies burrowed inside both governments, have known about this since last year and have made plans accordingly. Problem is, you can't "bomb" nuclear material: that's been the problem all along with Axis of Evil Atomic Bomb programs: what to do with the Enriched Uranium. My guess is, and this is only an educated guess, is that the air raid was a cover for a commando operation by the Sayeret Metkal to recover the North Korean radioactive material.

Nineveh province was a possible staging area for the raid, or possibly southern Turkey. Turkey was a silent partner in the operation. The United States handled some of the logistics.

No one wants the Iranians to have bomb grade stuff and, possibly, workable warheads.

You've been wondering why Condi has been mentioning diplomacy with the Iranians less and less in the last six months. Now you know.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[adorno]

My bet is Israel has a couple of Raptors.

Or, dual-citizenship American Jews flying our Raptors under Israeli direction.

[blam]

"You've been wondering why Condi has been mentioning diplomacy with the Iranians less and less in the last six months. Now you know. "

Bush Setting America Up For War With Iran

"Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action. "

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

I appreciate your dated expertise.....really.....now help me out by explaining the mirror (opposite) of phased-array antennae.....failing that, you must them believe the news statement is a lie; c’mon now, fess up!

[wildbill]

There were many reports of WMD weapons, money and other things being evacuated to Syria by Saddam’s regime before and during the invasion—with the help of Soviet transports.

One place to start looking for them is the Bekaa Valley.

[GovernmentIsTheProblem]

“My bet is Israel has a couple of Raptors.”

They have their own ew and elint, domestically designed. There is a lot of defense electronic industry in Israel. They make some great stuff and even developed the helmets and heads up display we use in the Apache for example.

The f-15i designates that it’s an f-15 airframe with domestic Israeli avionics, electronic warfare, sensor pods, etc.