UAE Ship zapped by anti-ship missile in the Strait of Bab al-Mandab

[Walks_At_Night]

Looks like the former US Navy  HSV-2 Swift was zapped overnight by Houthi rebels in the narrow
Bab al-Mandab strait off of the coast of Yemen.  The Swift was hit with a Chinese  Yingji-82 anti-ship
missile - reports are mixed.  Some claim the vessel has sunk, some say it was damaged, some say no
sailors were hurt and others say 100 were killed on board.   The video below doesn't look good for the Swift.

The Swift was in US service from 2003 to 2013 and is/was now being used by the United Arab Emirates
and was supposedly was carrying medical supplies to Aden in Yemen.

Here is the video of the Swift being struck - plenty of Admiral Ackbar's after the missile hit pay dirt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCWOAwGGQ7Q




The HSV-2 Swift in happier times:


Chinese  Yingji-82 Eagle Strike Anti-Ship Missile:

[Uncle Duke]

That's a fairly sophisticated weapon system for a bunch of supposed rag tag rebels.  I'd put money on Iran providing the missile, as well as the "advisors" who maintained and fired it.  Iran did the same thing a decade or so ago when Hezbollah took credit for heavily damaging an Israeli warship with the same missile.

[Walks_At_Night]

That's a fairly sophisticated weapon system for a bunch of supposed rag tag rebels.  I'd put money on Iran providing the missile, as well as the "advisors" who maintained and fired it.  Iran did the same thing a decade or so ago when Hezbollah took credit for heavily damaging an Israeli warship with the same missile.

Oh no doubt Iran is involved.  I'm sure they have sent some to their 'freedom fighting' buddies the Houthi's.
Smart move on their part.  They can already close off the Persian Gulf if they have a mind to.   Now it looks
like anyone entering the Red Sea through the Strait of Bab al-Mandab had better watch their backs.
This is kind of a big deal...........

http://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/2013/06/red-sea-marine-traffic.html

[Uncle Duke]

Oh no doubt Iran is involved.  I'm sure they have sent some to their 'freedom fighting' buddies the Houthi's.
Smart move on their part.  They can already close off the Persian Gulf if they have a mind to.   Now it looks
like anyone entering the Red Sea through the Strait of Bab al-Mandab had better watch their backs.
This is kind of a big deal...........

http://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/2013/06/red-sea-marine-traffic.html

With any luck George will have "Captain Kelly Sweeney" on C2C tonight to explain just how big a deal.

Attack aside, the more interesting aspect of this is what appears to be an intelligence failure on the party of the Saudi coalition.  Did they not know these missiles were deployed?  How did they get from Iran to Yemen?  I know next to nothing about ground launched anti-ship missiles, but would guess the launch vehicle for this system is known to Western and allied nations and would have been identifiable if photographed by PR a/c or satellite.  Hard to believe the coalition first discovered the missiles were active when the UAE ship took one up the wazoo.

[Walks_At_Night]

With any luck George will have "Captain Kelly Sweeney" on C2C tonight to explain just how big a deal.

Attack aside, the more interesting aspect of this is what appears to be an intelligence failure on the party of the Saudi coalition.  Did they not know these missiles were deployed?  How did they get from Iran to Yemen?  I know next to nothing about ground launched anti-ship missiles, but would guess the launch vehicle for this system is known to Western and allied nations and would have been identifiable if photographed by PR a/c or satellite.  Hard to believe the coalition first discovered the missiles were active when the UAE ship took one up the wazoo.

They may have launched it from some sort of boat or small vessel. Hard to tell from the video.  Also at about
1:06 it looks like some poor bastard is jumping overboard to get out of the inferno.

[Uncle Duke]

Fair point, I hadn't considered that possibility, but I'd think setting up an anti-ship missile launch capability for a system this advanced from some random boat/ship would be a technical challenge.  We're not talking about RPG or other shoulder launched system, this is a big, complex system.  I'd think if launched from a ship, it was a warship of some type, maybe a missile attack boat or other smallish vessel.  Would Iran be that bold?

[Walks_At_Night]

Fair point, I hadn't considered that possibility, but I'd think setting up an anti-ship missile launch capability for a system this advanced from some random boat/ship would be a technical challenge.  We're not talking about RPG or other shoulder launched system, this is a big, complex system.  I'd think if launched from a ship, it was a warship of some type, maybe a missile attack boat or other smallish vessel.  Would Iran be that bold?

Well Iran has lots of them but I agree it would be a pretty brassy move on their part.
I suppose they could have snuck when of their missile boats around the horn - perhaps
even inside a larger vessel.   Who knows?


It is interesting that a ship gets wiped out in one of the more important shipping choke points
in the world and no one seems to think it is news.   Obviously CNN is worthless but nothing even
on the BBC World page. 

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

The ship is a wave-piercing, aluminum-hulled, commercial catamaran with military enhancements, such as a helicopter flight deck, vehicle deck, small boat and unmanned vehicle launch and recovery capability, and a communications suite. She features a new, modular design, which will allow her to be refitted to support missions without requiring long shipyard periods. While from the front the vessel looks like a trimaran, the center hull does not rest in the water and is not used for buoyancy. As a logistics vessel, the ship does not have water-tight compartments or weapons systems. Propulsion is provided by directional water jets, so the ship does not have propellers or a rudder for steering, and can maneuver in twelve feet of water.

and this from october 2015   http://www.janes.com/article/55592/yemeni-rebels-claim-third-anti-ship-missile-attack

[Walks_At_Night]

Interesting stuff Zen.  High Explosives and Aluminum are not a good combo and it sounds like
the Houthi's have at least claimed to have been down this road before.  Who knows? 

What the hell - guess it is time to fret over Football and the Trumpster's tax return from 20 years ago
and not think about such things 

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

Interesting stuff Zen.  High Explosives and Aluminum are not a good combo and it sounds like
the Houthi's have at least claimed to have been down this road before.  Who knows? 

What the hell - guess it is time to fret over Football and the Trumpster's tax return from 20 years ago
and not think about such things

whew! thanks. we can leave the southern gulf states strategic studies for another time. 
imma gonna go cut the grass..... 

[SciFiAuthor]

Whoa. Not a peep in the media about this.

[FightTheFuture]

They can already close off the Persian Gulf if they have a mind to.

They`ve tried in the past. It didn`t work out so well for them. The United States will never allow it.

[Uncle Duke]

They`ve tried in the past. It didn`t work out so well for them. The United States will never allow it.

Iran would have the navies of many nations who'd frown on such an effort to deal with in that event, a half dozen or so of whom might be of some value to us.

[Juan]

Iran would have the navies of many nations who'd frown on such an effort to deal with in that event, a half dozen or so of whom might be of some value to us.

Under the current administration, would we be useful to us?

[Jackstar]

Whoa. Not a peep in the media about this.

Will The Internet Shutdown On Oct 1/16?

Don't you dare post in this thread. Don't you fucking do it.

[SciFiAuthor]

Will The Internet Shutdown On Oct 1/16?

Don't you dare post in this thread. Don't you fucking do it.

I won't. Nothing happened.

[Jackstar]

I won't. Nothing happened.

How do you maintain such a state of blissful naivete while doing all that research... oh, wait.

[Walks_At_Night]

Latest developments on this are that the U.S. Navy now has three vessels operating in the  Bab Al-Mandab strait.
Two Arleigh Burke's [USS Mason (DDG-87) and USS Nitze (DDG-94)] which were a predictable response.
What is interesting is USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) is with the two Destroyers.   The Ponce is an old tub of an
amphibious dock ship that was headed for mothballs when the Navy decided to turn it into a testbed.  It
carries the new XN-1 LaWS  directed energy weapon.   Rumor has it that the LaWS is a winner but there is only
one in service and it is on the Ponce


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjXXRfwrHg

[Uncle Duke]

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/incatbuilt-hsv2-swift-battered-but-not-sunk-in-rocket-attack/news-story/a84a2adfa91fa5d307b3cf72697d6b2f

Some very scary photos of SWIFT the day or two after the attack.  Apparently the nature and source of attack is still open to question.... at least officially.  Some sources, including an article on the USNI site, claim the attack was carried out using shoulder launched antitank weapons, apparently from another vessel near SWIFT. Other sources are sticking with the original claim of a Chinese C801 antiship missile, most likely ground launched.

[Jackstar]

Some sources

At this point, what difference does it make what Bigfoot says?

[Uncle Duke]

At this point, what difference does it make what Bigfoot says?

Never thought I'd see you quoting Hillary Clinton.

[Jackstar]

[Dr. MD MD]

[HedgehogNorman]

I just wish they weren't naturally blurry!

[Jackstar]

naturally blurry!

https://youtu.be/r34Sqv-iblc

[theONE]

https://youtu.be/r34Sqv-iblc

I'm always intrigued how birds build their nests, especially big nests like eagles.
Would be very interesting to watch from the start from the first few twigs, how they build the foundation,
how they make the first twigs to stay balanced and hold togheter.

[theONE]

https://youtu.be/r34Sqv-iblc

Quite fascinating if it's real.
I guess the thing to do now is to check that area where the beast was walking for hair/fur samples and for poop.
Check thickness of broken branches to see if was possible for average human to brake them,or if they are way too thick.
I mean there should be almost a smorgasbord of evidence in that area
But who will be brave to venture there now knowing that "he/she" is there

[HedgehogNorman]

Quite fascinating if it's real.
I guess the thing to do now is to check that area where the beast was walking for hair/fur samples and for poop.
Check thickness of broken branches to see if was possible for average human to brake them,or if they are way too thick.
I mean there should be almost a smorgasbord of evidence in that area
But who will be brave to venture there now knowing that "he/she" is there

Or it could be some asshole in a gorilla suit that knew the camera was there.

[FightTheFuture]

Those sneaky Iranians are at it again. Trying to take out an Arleigh Burke class destroyer cruising in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/politics/yemen-us-navy-targeted/

[Jackstar]

Or it could be some asshole in a gorilla suit that knew the camera was there.

This seems way more likely than the magic bullet theory.