Iran launches retaliatory missile strikes into Israel

I know. I was just expanding on the “doing the civilized world a favor” comment.

 

Israel isn’t doing that.

 

Oh, I’m quite certain you understood that. But you’ll forgive me if I won’t pass up on every opportunity to point out how easily Israel bypassed and destroyed (with zero friendly casualties) the technology Russia airily assures us would shoot down all of our F35s in the event they force us to intervene in Ukraine. I might end up pointing it out ten to twenty more times for the Russian trolls who frequent this site. See, I already knew that was the case. But I’m as susceptible to schadenfreude as the next guy when all of their tough talk of the last few years gets so publicly disproven. I’ll admit to a morbid curiosity about the what the excuses will be. Russia didn’t sell Iran its best tech (it did). The Iranians didn’t use it properly (well, they had Russian advisors, so …). The Israeli planes are better than ours (only the U.S. maintains the top-of-the-line F35; for obvious reasons, we sell only a lesser version to our allies, including Israel).

 

Israel does modify the F35. But US would similarly have no issues with the Russian air defense systems

 

Yes, they do. To make them more suitable to their own national security needs that are different from ours. We will need to leave it at that. But they do not get all of the bells and whistles that our own F35s have. We will need to leave it there as well.

 

That I understand. Ukraine should have taught certain posters and Iran what they are up against. But it didn’t. And they are still speaking belligerently. Short of a nuclear weapon, they are outclassed

 

Apparently Israel destroyed all 4 S - 300 system Iran had. Wonder if they can get a refund for defective equipment

Israel destroys all Iranian S-300 systems in strike on military targets

During air strikes on military targets in Iran on Oct. 26, Israeli aircraft destroyed three Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, which were a key element of Iran's air defense system, reports The Wall Street Journal. During the attack, which involved about a hundred Israeli warplanes, the S-300 was able to intercept only a few hundred missiles fired at targets in Iran. Of the four systems that Iran received from Russia, three were destroyed during this operation, and the fourth was destroyed earlier.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), one of the S-300 systems was deployed near Tehran airport, while the other two were protecting energy facilities, including an oil port, an oil refinery, and a gas field.

The loss of the S-300 leaves Iran's infrastructure vulnerable to missile attacks, as Russia cannot provide Iran with more modern S-400 systems, as they are in use in the war against Ukraine.

The article notes that the reputation of the Russian defense industry has suffered after the destruction of S-300 systems in Iran and a number of S-300 and S-400 systems in Ukraine. This may force traditional buyers of Russian weapons to look for alternative suppliers, including manufacturers from South Korea, Israel, the United States, and China.

 

Would be a great time to be a third party producer of Anti-Air Defense Capabilities. There is a very big demand signal for them these days.

 

Why a “third party?” Seems to me, this is our moment (well, we’ve had several, and we’ve blown them all so far) to peel India off of Russia and become its primary supplier of advanced arms. Their primary strategic problem is China, and it’s becoming more obvious that Russian arms won’t give China any pause. Pakistan won’t like it. But remind me again why we need Pakistan?

 

Just pointing out that there is now a huge demand signal for Anti-Air Capabilities and there are only two real providers.

 

good read on Lebanon and hezbollah today. will Iran abandon Hezbollah?

this clip caught my attention and should be saved for the next time a group of journalist are injured by an Israeli strike

‘The Iranian Period Is Finished’

We had been directed by the Lebanese army—which maintains a reconnaissance and policing role in the south—to go to the Rest House, a gated resort. There, on a broad terrace overlooking a magnificent beach, we found a cluster of aid workers and TV journalists smoking and chatting under a tarp, with their cameras set on tripods and pointed south. This was as close as any observer could get to the war. Beyond us was an undulating coastline and green hills stretching to the Israeli border, about 12 miles away. There, just beyond our vision, Israeli ground troops were battling Hezbollah’s fighters, near villages that had been turned to rubble.

I was staring out at the sea, mesmerized by the beauty and stillness of the place, when a whooshing sound made me jolt. I looked to my left and saw a volley of projectiles shooting into the air, perhaps 200 yards away. They vanished into the blue sky, angled southward and leaving tufts of white smoke behind them. I felt a rush of panic: These must be Hezbollah rockets. Didn’t this mean Israel would strike back at the launch site, awfully close to us? But one of the Arab journalists waved my worries away. “It happens a lot,” he said. War is like that. You get used to it, until the assumptions change and the missiles land on you.

 

Lebanon used to be the Riviera of the Middle East. If Hezbollah can he weakened enough that the Lebanese army can take the country back, it would be a great victory for the west. And Lebanon cam be the jewel it once was.