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<p>TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran believes a missile that landed inside its border last week came from Iraq and not the United States, as first suspected, the country's official IRNA news agency said Sunday.</p> <p>Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari said examinations indicated that the missile, which landed in the western region of Sardasht, was made by Iraq.</p>

Iraq military says it shot down 21 cruise missiles BAGHDAD, March 22 (Reuters) - The Iraqi military has shot down 21 cruise missiles as it defends the country against an air assault by U.S. and British forces, a military spokesman said on Saturday. "The enemy has continued firing missiles against our civilian and military establishments and our brave defences were able to shoot down 21 cruise missiles," the spokesman said. U.S.-led forces have fired hundreds of missiles at Iraq launching a war on Thursday. U.S. warships alone fired 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Friday, an U.S. admiral said. The Iraqi...

Story Number: NNS030321-25 Release Date: 3/21/2003 4:55:00 PM By Sandra Schroeder, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs WHITE SANDS, N.M. (NNS) -- The Navy’s next generation cruise missile, the Tactical Tomahawk, took flight March 21 at the White Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico. The flight is part of a Defense Threat Reduction Agency sponsored advanced concept technology demonstration. This marked the first developmental test flight of the Tactical Tomahawk configured with a live penetration warhead. The Tactical Tomahawk was launched vertically from a ground test stand that simulated the normal shipboard Vertical Launching System. The missile successfully executed...

ABOARD THE USS KITTY HAWK, Mar 21, 2003 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The U.S. Navy launched about 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Iraq from ships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, senior officers said Friday. "We have just begun the next phase of attacks in Iraq," said Rear Adm. Matthew G. Moffit, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk battle group in the north Persian Gulf. "The intention is to convince the regime that it is time to leave, and if they don't we will try to take them out by force," Moffit told reporters...

At 1.30pm on Monday June 20 1977, tranquillity prevailed in the calm waters off San Clemente island, a chunk of land 60 miles from the coast of California that is home to a hook-billed songbird called the loggerhead shrike, a rare species of fox, and a handful of US Navy scientists. Then, at 1.33, the silence was shattered by a roar. A slim grey missile blasted from a military submarine, through the ocean's surface and shot towards the sky. It reached an altitude of 2,000ft. Then it wobbled. And then millions of dollars of research and development money came crashing...

U.S. Attacks Baghdad With Missiles; Iraq Retaliates Washington, March 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces attacked Iraq with cruise missiles in what commanders described as a plan to ``decapitate'' Saddam Hussein's leadership before an all-out assault to disarm the nation. ``These are the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign'' attacking ``selected targets of military importance,'' President George W. Bush said on U.S. television. The war ``could be longer and more difficult than some predict.'' Targets in Baghdad were hit by as many as 40 cruise missiles, beginning a war that Bush has said was necessary because...

WASHINGTON - Signaling impatience with the Turkish government, the Pentagon (news - web sites) is moving about 10 Navy ships out of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where they could launch missiles on a path to Iraq (news - web sites) that would not go over Turkey, officials said. The shift could be the first step in a larger redeployment of ground and naval firepower away from Turkey, which so far has refused to grant overflight rights for U.S. naval aircraft and cruise missiles like the long-range, low-flying Tomahawk. The Pentagon had hoped to base a 60,000-strong U.S. Army...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Signaling impatience with the Turkish government, the Pentagon is moving about 10 Navy ships out of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where they could launch missiles on a path to Iraq that would not go over Turkey, officials said. The shift could be the first step in a larger redeployment of ground and naval firepower away from Turkey, which so far has refused to grant overflight rights for U.S. naval aircraft and cruise missiles like the long-range, low-flying Tomahawk. The Pentagon had hoped to base a 60,000-strong U.S. Army force as well as additional Air...

MANAMA (Reuters) - Any U.S.-led attack on Iraq is likely to start with a hail of stubby-winged Tomahawk cruise missiles fired with supposed pinpoint accuracy by what may be the most powerful naval armada in history, military experts say. In its combat debut, the long-range Tomahawk opened the U.S.-led war that drove Iraqi invaders from Kuwait in 1991, cutting the initial risk to allied pilots and warplanes. Since then, the U.S. Navy has used variants of the $1.4 million Tomahawk to start military campaigns in Bosnia in 1995 and in Afghanistan in 2001. Britain began its supporting role against al...

Tomahawk's journey begins in ball of flame from US warship ABOARD USS COWPENS (AFP) Mar 12, 2003Anybody unfortunate enough to be standing on the deck of this ship when a Tomahawk cruise missile launches would probably be blown over the side.The missile will rise above the deck with a terrifying boom and pass through a towering ball of flame to begin its journey of destruction."It's a pretty awesome sight," said Gunner's Mate Chief Eric Palmer, 30, of Colorado.The Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser in the Gulf since late February, is one of at least 30 warships which are in the...

An important U.S. high-tech manufacturer is shutting down its American operations, laying off hundreds of workers and moving sophisticated equipment now being used to make critical parts for smart bombs to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Insight has learned. Indianapolis-based Magnequench Inc. has not yet publically announced the closing of its Valparaiso, Ind., factory, but Insight has confirmed that the company will shut down this year and relocate at least some of its high-tech machine tools to Tianjin, China. Word of the shutdown comes as the company is producing critical parts for the U.S. Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)...

CHINA LAKE, Calif. (NNS) -- The highest standard in warfare technology was demonstrated recently in the second contractor flight test of the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile at the Naval Air System Command (NAVAIR) western test range complex in Southern California. This flight marked the successful completion of the Tactical Tomahawk contractor flight-testing phase and paves the way for entry into formal government technical evaluation. The missile was launched vertically from a fixed underwater launcher, demonstrating its operational submerged launch capability. The missile broached the ocean's surface and successfully demonstrated shroud separation, rocket motor firing/separation and deployment of fins, inlet duct...

CHINA LAKE, Calif. (NNS) -- A U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile was launched Oct. 16 from USS Stethem (DDG 63), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer underway in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California. The Block III missile flew a fully guided 565-mile flight at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) western test range complex. Seconds after launch from the ship’s vertical launch system, the Tomahawk missile transitioned to cruise flight, utilizing global positioning satellite navigation to a target on the range. The test was part of the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS) technical evaluation process. TTWCS...