Israel attacks Gaza Strip

THIS IS STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!

JERUSALEM - An unmanned Hezbollah aircraft rigged with explosives slammed into an Israeli warship late Friday, causing heavy damage to the vessel, military officials said.


The attack indicated that Hezbollah has added a new weapon to the arsenal of rockets and mortars it has used against Israeli troops.

The army said the warship suffered severe damage and several hours after the attack, was still on fire as it headed back to Israel. There was no word on casualties, though the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported the Israeli military was searching for four missing sailors after the ship was hit by a rocket.

The military officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media

Oh my God that's unbeleivable! An unmanned drone launched from a guerilla army to attack an enemy patrol boat...hey, this can go into the books.

I got more info on this. The UAV is a Mirsad-1 (Ababil) supplyed by Iran. The ship is still reportedly on fire and is being towed or limping back to port.

Ababil is equipped with shahid noroozi guidance and control system designed and manufactured in Iran.It is composed of two aerial and ground section. The aircraft control is provided with an autopilot system that transfers flight information data to the ground station via a datalink system . The system is able to launch the aircraft ,perform different maneuvers, fly to30 km range, loiter and simulate air attacks and finally recover the aircraft at a given point. The range will be increased up to 120 Km simply by increasing the output power of the communication system.

In ground station, the aircraft position and flight condition is displayed. Using these data, the pilot is able to guide and control the aircraft. The computer system shows the aircraft attitude, engine, speed, fuel consumption and emergency recovery signals. Using radar, the tracking and the reading angle to ground station all times during flight.

Here's an article about it:

Hezbollah `air power' first flew in 2004

Hezbollah's remote-controlled attack on a warship Friday marked a first in the militant group's use of "air power" against its powerful enemy, the technologically advanced Israeli military.

The Lebanese militia had launched similar unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, against
Israel at least twice before, in November 2004 and April 2005, when they crossed over Israel's northern border on apparent reconnaissance flights, lasting just minutes before they returned to Lebanese territory.

On Friday, however, a Hezbollah drone loaded with explosives slammed into an Israeli navy vessel off Lebanon, causing severe damage and leaving it burning as it turned and cruised homeward, Israeli officials reported. The Arab television channel al-Jazeera said four sailors were missing after the attack.

After Hezbollah's first use of a drone in 2004, its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, warned that the pilotless aircraft were capable of carrying explosives and striking deep into Israel. On Friday, Nasrallah went on the air again, telling listeners the damaged ship could be seen off Beirut. "Look at it burning," he said.

Israel claimed in 2004 that the drone, dubbed by Hezbollah the "Mirsad 1," or "observation post" in Arabic, was Iranian-made. On Friday, however, Israeli officials suggested it had been developed by the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group, as Hezbollah itself has claimed in the past.

Defense analyst John Pike of the Washington-based firm Global Security doubted that claim.

"I think Hezbollah has people capable of rigging explosives to a drone, but I don't think they could develop a UAV on their own," he said. Global Security's website notes that a leading Arab newspaper, London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, once reported that
Iran sold eight Mohajer-4 drones to Hezbollah.

Iran fields several types of UAVs, including one, called the Ababil, with a 9-foot-long body, capable of flying for 90 minutes, and able to carry a 90-pound payload. Nasrallah was quoted in 2004 as saying Hezbollah's drones could carry 40 kilograms — 90 pounds — of explosives.

The drone's TV camera makes it relatively easy to mount such an attack, Pike said.

"It's not bigtime rocket science to put explosives on the thing and then use the TV camera to home in on the ship," he said.

Ship struck off Beirut shore; four crewmembers missing

Israeli vessel imposing sea blockade on Lebanon hit. Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah first to report of attack: 'Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes'
Roee Nahmias and AP

VIDEO - Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday night, it was reported that the stern of an Israeli navy war ship suffered a direct hit in an attack by Hizbullah, which damaged the helicopter landing pad area. The hit caused a conflagration, which was extinguished. No one was hurt in the fire.

Shortly afterwards, crewmembers assessed the damage to the ship and discovered the hit was more severe than originally thought, and had caused damage to the ship’s internal operating systems. The security establishment was checking the possibility that the ship was hit by a drone loaded with explosives, or by rocket fire.

The damaged ship was a Saar 5 navy gunship that was 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the Lebanese shore when it was hit, enforcing the sea blockade which was imposed on Lebanon Thursday.

Just Thursday, hours after the navy began enforcing the sea blockade on Lebanon, head of naval operations Brig.-Gen. Noam Feig told Ynet that the navy was acting under the assumption of an existant threat.

He noted that the ships' officers were instructed in the proper protocol to avoid being targeted by Hizbullah. Until Friday no attempt to hit navy war ships had been made, but according to a senior commander the navy had never ruled out such scenarios, including hits by explosives laden boats.

Nasrallah on attack

Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was the first to report of the attack on the Israeli warship.

Speaking defiantly in an audiotape aired on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television, Nasrallah addressed himself to Israelis, saying: "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."

"Soon you will find how stupid your new government is and how it is incapable of reading the situation. It has no experience. You said in your opinion polls that you believe me more than anyone else. Believe me now – you attacked every house in Lebanon and you will pay for that," he said.

"Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes," Nasrallah said. It was not clear whether he meant that the warship had already been attacked. Officials would not give the vessel's exact location.

Nasrallah spoke after Israeli missiles struck Hizbullah headquarters and his house in southern Beirut. His address, however, appeared to be pre-recorded, and Nasrallah did not refer to the missile attack on his offices and residence.

Nasrallah's announcement was greeted with heavy celebratory fire that rang out across the Lebanese capital.

The Hezbollah leader repeated a threat to hit the Israeli coastal city of Haifa and other towns farther south. "We will reach Haifa, and believe me, even beyond Haifa."

"Our homes will not be the only ones to be destroyed, our children will not be the only ones to die," Nasrallah added.

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Saar 5 Corvette:


The Israeli ship is a 1,200 ton corvette equipped with 2 x 32-cel VLS launchers w/Barak air defense missile and a Phalanx CIWS (or 76mm) gun, in addition to 16 SSM's, 6 torpedos, & 1-2 helicopters. There are 3 Saar 5 ships in IDF service, built by Northrope Grumman Ship Systems. The ships are INS Eilat, INS Lahav, and INS Hanit.

At this time I cannot confirm that the ship was indeed a Saar 5, and if so, which ship. These are the largest and most modern surface warfare ship that Israel has.

Unfortunately, being a 1,200 ton corvette also means a missile (or UAV) with small warhead will do a lot of damage. This is the kind of ship that helicopter-based anti-ship missiles were designed to sink.

:nono: :nono: :nono::nono:

First Palestine, Lebanon then... who's next? Humm... next a joint attack on Syria and Iran?

*The Isreal army already lost a lot more troops than they are suppose to save. The calculations are kind of out of wack. Unless... :coffee: :roll: :nana:

God, that UAV thing was AMAZING. If Hezbollah is that inventive and skilled, Israel will have a hard time.

On the news they have some cool footage of IAF planes cratering the Beruit International Airport.

The commander (or whatever he is called) of Hezbollah called for "open war" with Israel just now.

So, militarily I put the advantage with Hezbollah. It can survive bombings because it is a guerilla organization. And Israel does not want to cross the border into Lebanon, which is the only way to really damage Hamas.

I think that right now Iran is blustering but it will use its SCUDs if this escalates. Syria will not do anything, the Assad reigime just wants to survive. So I think that Israel is the main variable right now, as of 6:02 PM Central Time in the US on July 14. The ball is in Israel's hands.

Lastly, let's get a show of hands on who thinks this will escalate to open war and who thinks that this will fizz out. I withhold my vote for now. The next 12-36 hours will be the turning point, I believe.

So there are two ways this can go: Full reigonal war between Israel, the Lebanese Army, Hamas and Hezbollah with possibly Iran and less possibly Syria involved. The other way is that both sides will be called off by their masters (Iran and Syria tell Hamas and Hezbollah to settle down, the US tells Israel to end operations or face heavy consequences) and things calm down.

Israel says Hezbollah drone damages warship

JERUSALEM — An unmanned Hezbollah aircraft rigged with explosives slammed into an Israeli warship late Friday, causing heavy damage to the vessel, military officials said.

The attack indicated that Hezbollah has added a new weapon to the arsenal of rockets and mortars it has used against Israeli troops.

The army said the warship suffered severe damage and several hours after the attack, was still on fire as it headed back to Israel. There was no word on casualties, though the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported the Israeli military was searching for four missing sailors after the ship was hit by a rocket.

The military officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. The army spokesman's office would say only that the cause of the attack was still under investigation.

Hezbollah has managed to fly unmanned spy drones over northern Israel at least twice in recent years.

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This is a major development and an engagement that will get a LOT of scrutiny and analysis all over the world. The SAAR 5 is the most sophisticated vessel the IDF has, and is considered to be the most advanced corvette in the world, with a Phalanx CIWS on the bow, two 32 cell Barak missile systems and an eight cell Gabrial II missile system.

The drone hit the Saar 5 in the stern, which is the least defended area of the ship. It implies the drone probably had sophisticated TV control (it was apparently not jammed), and probably came in very low and fast.

It also implies that the Saar 5 was perhaps not data linked to other assets that could have seen the threat first and given the vessel more time to prepare. Sounds like it came in low to the deck, fast, from the stern so the CIWS could not be brought to bear. Or it may have been one of the vessels without the CIWS.

IMO the Israelis already tried invasion, occupation, and propping up friendlies (SLA), and all of them flopped. So now they're hoping to roll over Hezbollah and force the Lebanon army to deploy south and take control. At least then there would be some accountability, and making the Hezbollah look like a liability.

The IDF has been very careful not to destroy the Lebanon army. If they can successfully force the Lebanon army to get off their butts and deploy south right up to the Israeli-Lebanon border to take control and clamp down on militants, it'd be a strategtic victory for the IDF.

Re: Israel says Hezbollah drone damages warship

Are you sure it's the Saar 5? If so, it's a grave (and baffling) loss for Israeli, since it apparently only has 3 of those. Quite a coup for Hezbollah.