US missile disappears, turns up in Cuba: WSJ.....

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by MMC, Jan 8, 2016.

  1. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    It appears we lost a Missile.....The US has asked to have the missile returned. But for some reason. Cuba has ignored the direct inquiry. What say ye?



    A US Hellfire missile has turned up in Cuba after going missing in a fiasco that has left American officials worried the technology may be shared with China, Russia or North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    Though the missile was not carrying a warhead, the alarming diversion while it was in transit from Europe has spurred US investigators to probe whether its arrival on the communist island was the result of criminal activity or merely a series of mistakes, according to the newspaper.

    And despite a historic thaw in ties with Cuba over the past year, Washington has been unsuccessful in its push to get the missile back, the WSJ said, citing unnamed sources.....snip~

    http://news.yahoo.com/us-missile-disappears-turns-cuba-wsj-060622406.html
     
  2. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    Well.....we might as well start coming up with a different missile. Then one to counter. As there should be no reason to believe that the Cubans wouldn't share the tech with Russia or the Chinese. This is another major screw up by Team BO peep.
     
  3. Mushroom

    Mushroom Well-Known Member

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    The main thing many are missing in the hysteria over this is that it was not a real missile. It was a training missile, which is about as useful as a brick when it comes to being used as a weapon. If Cuba or Russia or anybody else wants a real missile, I am sure they are available. We fired huge numbers of these in Afghanistan and Iraq, and if anybody think there were not some duds among these they are fools.

    I can guarantee that Russia has in their hands some of the real things, picked up at battlefields and sent back for scientific study.

    This missile was not classified, was not dangerous, and was sent on a pallet of mixed cargo from Spain through Air France. It would not have been sent this way if it was of any importance.

    Reminds me of the screams a few years ago when a training PATRIOT missile (first gen - circa 1985) was found in a garbage dump. Or a load of PAC-2 (circa 1990) was found going to China. The thing was already over 20 years old by that time, and we were already phasedout (they were over 4 generations old). I served in PATRIOT for over 5 years, and never saw a PAC-2 missile in inventory (we use GEM, GEM-T, GEM-C, and PAC-3).

    The only thing we use the few PAC-2 missiles in inventory left for is livefire testing. If we want to see how well a RADAR tracking package works we use an obsolete PAC-2, instead of a multimillion dollar PAC-3. Others have been sold to our allies for the same purposes. We have also used PAC-2 at least once that I know of as a target for a THAAD test. And while the current future intercept concept uses PAC-3, it has been rumored that Lockheed had been toying with using PAC-2 as a test for an air launched PATRIOT for over a decade.

    I largely ignore these things, because they are reported to alarm individuals where there is really nothing there. People who only skim headlines read this and think "OMG, we sent der missile to Cuba!" Where in reality, Air France sent a dummy missile to Cuba. One based on 40 year old technology at that.
     
  4. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    Well it is really more about us trying to get it back and Cuba ignoring BO Team. Goes with all that hoopla he made over Cuba.

    Moreover BO sent Hellfires to Lebanon. Both the Russians and the Iranians. Would get a look at the USDA Choice Meat without even having to find one.
     
  5. Mushroom

    Mushroom Well-Known Member

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    Does not really matter, the Russians have long had missiles of similar capabilities, so no need to steal a 40 year old US one.

    And Iran has similar missiles as well. If there is one thing Iran is good at, it is modernizing old technology and making it effective even today.

    A good example of that is the HAWK missile system. A late 1950's era system, we sold them to Iran when the Shah was still in power. And in the mid 1980's we sold some older obsolete ones to them during the Iran-Contra deal. And although most countries phased them out decades ago, Iran not only still uses and builds them, they have even modified this surface to air system and adopted it into a potent air to air missile (firing it from F-14 Tomcats).

    In fact, the F-14 is another such example. The only flight capable Tomcats left in the world are all owned by Iran. The US retired all of them a decade ago, and the last we had that were not display and museum pieces were destroyed in the last 5 years. But Iran still considers them to be the pride of their Air Force. When Russian Tu-95 bombers were conducting air strikes on ISIS targets, they were given escorts of Iranian F-14 fighters.

    No, Iran does not need the Hellfire, because they are already making missiles of similar capabilities. They may not be as sophisticated, but they still work just fine. And like so many items a great deal is COTS equipment.
     
  6. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    This doesn't change anything with Lebanon sharing any of our tech with Iran. Oh, and we sent a couple of tanks over to Lebanon. Which I am sure Iran and Russia was shown first hand what they are all about.

    Reverse technology isn't just about duplicating.....it's also about incapacitation. Electronics and frequencies are part of all that.

    Either way, we need to stop sharing tech with others when it comes to the Military.
     
  7. Mushroom

    Mushroom Well-Known Member

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    We sent M60 tanks to Lebanon 6 years ago. We sent M60 tanks to Iran way back in the 1960s.

    Do you honestly think that there is anything Iran or Russia can learn from our sending Lebanon some 55 year old tanks?

    [​IMG]

    https://milinme.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/vehicle-walk-around-laf-m60a3/

    I mean, these things are for sale on the open market, these were the tanks run by the grandfathers of the current tank operators. And being 51 years old, it is not all that often I run across military equipment that is older then I am. But these tanks are. The only real update from the first generation M60 was a laser rangefinder and ballistic computer, circa mid 1980's.

    That means they can barely fire on the move, these are not M1 tanks.

    Remember, I do research and know the capabilities of our equipment, going back a couple of generations. Simply saying "we sold somebody tanks" without saying which tank only invites me to do a little digging. The M60 has been obsolete for decades. And Iran has been using them since before I was born.

    And Iran has been making their own tanks for over 20 years. The Zulfiqar is a blending of the T-72 and M60, making a tank that has the aspects of both vehicles. It is actually considered to be the best "Third World Designed and Manufactured" tank in the world. With a COTS fire control system from Slovenia originally made for the T-72, it can fire on the move, a feature the M60 can not do.

    [​IMG]

    No, there is not a damned thing anybody can learn from these tanks.
     
  8. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    Well you can certainly down play the issue. As I am sure that Russians are up to date on our newer tech to. But hey its no problem in your eyes. Not even with Diplomacy Right.

    So what we get ignored. This (*)(*)(*)(*) happens all the time. Especially nowadays with more Incompetents being in the military.
     
  9. waltky

    waltky Well-Known Member

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    GMD doesn't work as intended...
    :omg:
    US Missile Defense System Is 'Unable to Protect the Public': Report
    Jul 14, 2016 | WASHINGTON -- The system designed to defend American cities and towns against a nuclear attack by North Korea is "simply unable to protect the U.S. public" and will remain ineffective unless Congress exerts rigorous oversight, according to a new report.
     
  10. MMC

    MMC Well-Known Member

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    Can't protect the public with GMD alone anyways, Right?
     
  11. Jim Rockford

    Jim Rockford Banned

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    The GMD is called government fat. People in government get fat with cash from stupid impossible programs.

    The Hellfire would probably be an intentional intercept thanks to Obama andHillary's dirty deals.
     
  12. gravefiller

    gravefiller Banned

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    According to a couple of news programs I have seen, Chinese hackers have managed to steal most of, if not all of, our secret military technology. So what's the difference. We're fuked. Maybe if Americans vote for Trump, that will start to change.
     

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