Wednesday - September 28, 2011

Weak Horse, Strong Horse

Syria’s state-run news agency says a nuclear engineer has been assassinated in a hail of bullets in the restive central city of Homs. Engineer and university professor Aws Khalil is the fourth Syrian academic to be assassinated in Homs recently.

... SANA reported Khalil’s killing on Wednesday, blaming it on an “armed terrorist gang.”

Mere coincidence. This has nothing to do with Iran at all. Well, until you stop and recall that Gerald Bull was capped just before the first Gulf War, after designing the SuperGun for Iraq. Which Saddam tried his best to build.

Iran says it’s started large-scale production of a domestically-developed cruise missile designed for sea-based targets and capable of destroying warships. Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says an unspecified number of samples of “Ghader,” or “Capable” as the missile is called in Farsi, were delivered to the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, assigned to protect Iran’s sea borders. His remarks were reported by state TV on Wednesday.

The cruise missile has a range of 124 miles. It can reportedly travel at low altitudes and has a lighter weight and smaller dimensions.

Iran also claims to possess high speed super-cavitating rocket-torpedoes that go 4 times faster than modern high speed torpedoes, but some folks have said that that’s a scam. The Russians do have such a torpedo, and so, presumably, do we. Super cavitation is real, and a bubble curtain around a torpedo can allow it to move through the water at more than 220mph. Steering is a bit of a problem though.

Iranian Navy Plans to Send Ships Near U.S. Waters

The Iranian navy plans to move naval vessels out of the Persian Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean, “near maritime borders of the United States,” the Tehran Times reported Tuesday. According to the English-language paper based in Tehran, the announcement came from a top Iranian naval officer on Tuesday.

“As the global arrogance (forces of imperialism) have a (military) presence near our sea borders, we also plan to have a strong presence near the U.S. sea borders with the help of the soldiers who are loyal to the vali-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent),” said Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, as quoted and paraphrased by the Tehran Times.

“We’ve been pushing freedom of the seas for years and the Iranian navy can go wherever it wants,” said Pentagon Spokesman Capt. John Kirby.

Iranians might face a challenge in refueling its fleet. Some in the Pentagon have speculated it could gas up in Venezuela, whose President, Hugo Chavez, is known to have a close relationship with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranians gave no indication of when or what kind of vessels they might deploy, but the announced plan comes just months after Iran sent warships through the Suez following the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It was the first time Iran had moved ships into the Mediterranean and the move put Israel on high alert.

The naval unit plans to establish direct contact with the U.S. when it hits the Gulf of Mexico, a commander in the Iranian navy said. Officials in the Pentagon strongly denied any planned port visits by the Iranians.

When Bush was president, I don’t think the Iranian Navy ever sailed out of sight of their own sand dunes. It’s tough to put the spurs to a strong horse and ride it, but you can kick a weak horse all you want without fear.



Update:

Posted by Drew458     on 09/28/2011 at 08:59 AM   
Filed Under: • Iran •  
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