Have ISIS just got a scud missile? Or false flag?

I've not seen this posted anywhere else, so apologies if it has...



www.telegraph.co.uk...

The Islamic State on Monday appeared to parade a captured Scud missile and T-55 tanks through the streets of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the capital of its proclaimed Sunni caliphate.

Photographs circulating on social media showed masked fighters driving the missile through the streets on the back of a lorry as a crowd looked on.

Twitter accounts associated with the Islamic State, formerly known as Isis, declared that it was a Scud.

But a number of experts said the missile was likely inoperable and did not pose a threat to Iraqi government forces or nearby Israel.

How likely is the scud going to be operable or inoperable?

Can we use some of that NSA facial recognition software to identify the masked men?

a reply to: mr-lizard

Highly unlikely it would be operable. If it were, or it was possible to put it in such a state, they would still need to know how to operate it, and then how to launch it without killing themselves. Add to that it probably wouldn't have any guidance capabilities and it would basically be a big RPG if they somehow got it working. Practically useless to them.

However, that does not detract from the very real danger of these people getting their hands on more sophisticated weapons. They are a real threat to the region, and the world, and the U.S should be taking it seriously instead of trying to throw more money, training and weapons at even more Syrian rebels (which is part of what helped ISIS in the first place).

Western nations and even Russia have been curiously quiet on this issue, as if the problem will just solve itself if they prop up the failed Iraqi state with more money and equipment.

originally posted by: JHumm
Can we use some of that NSA facial recognition software to identify the masked men?

You kinda answered your own question when you identified them as "masked"

Something tells me that the west would not want ALL of these men identified individually.

What's next?

'ISIS creates godzilla in a lab and is going to release in on the world.'

Well....They maybe got one and it's good for a one way ride. Hopefully, if they're after a worthwhile bang, someone in the roster knows how it works and how to make it do the task they deem necessary. I could capture a hackers computer right now and be able to hack nada!

www.pbs.org... info on how scuds work and general info

Scud was first deployed by the Soviets in the mid-1960s. The missile was originally designed to carry a 100-kiloton nuclear warhead or a 2,000 pound conventional warhead, with ranges from 100 to 180 miles. Its principal threat was its warhead potential to hold chemical or biological agents. It is directly descended from the German V-2. Its warhead is permanently attached to the missile body and thus has a high velocity impact. The first combat use of the Scud occurred in 1973 in the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War. It was later used in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. "The Iraqis modified Scuds for greater range, largely by reducing warhead weight, enlarging their fuel tanks and burning all of the fuel during the early phase of flight (rather than continuously). Such a Scud therefore came down with a relatively heavy warhead and a heavy motor, separated by the light empty fuel tank. It was structurally unstable and often broke up in the upper atmosphere. That further reduced its already poor accuracy, but it also made the missile difficult to intercept, since its flight path was unpredictable.

so not the most reliable at the best of times but still nothing to ignore

en.wikipedia.org...

www.slate.com... old link about how some leaders have an affinity for them

missilethreat.com...

interesting City,,a little historical background.

"In 542, the city was destroyed by the invasion of the Persian Sasanid Shahanshah Khusrau I Anushirvan
(reigned 531–579),
but was subsequently rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I
(reigned 527–565).

and so it goes.

ya i remember "scuds" in more recent times,,



Iraq aimed Scud missiles at the bustling Israeli cities of Tel Aviv ...

File:Gulfwar 1991 in Israeli shelter



great,,just great,,

a reply to: DeadSeraph

Considering Saddam's Sunni's were the ones that operated the scuds in they day and its Sunni's that have the scud now and its sunni's that are in ISIS id say they have people who can operate it.

If its been floating around since 2013 who knows what repairs/mods have been made.

Also..why not add the video at the bottom of the article?

a reply to: MALBOSIA

That's what I was thinking. If we could that we wouldn't because that would probably open a new can of worms.

originally posted by: Agit8dChop
a reply to: DeadSeraph

Considering Saddam's Sunni's were the ones that operated the scuds in they day and its Sunni's that have the scud now and its sunni's that are in ISIS id say they have people who can operate it.

How does that make any sense ?

a reply to: samsamm9

IS is remarkably tech savvy and unlikely to operate like a bunch of backwater rubes.

originally posted by: Agit8dChop
a reply to: DeadSeraph

id say they have people who can operate it.

I believe I'd agree 100% with that. Scuds are a basic design for basic troops to operate. Not terribly accurate, as Saudi learned in 1991...but they sure can be a pain in the butt. With the wrong warheads, far more, I'd imagine. I think some still contend at least a couple Gulf War warheads were unusual. Who knows what all they got for where the lone missile came out of, eh?

originally posted by: DeadSeraph
a reply to: mr-lizard

Highly unlikely it would be operable. If it were, or it was possible to put it in such a state, they would still need to know how to operate it, and then how to launch it without killing themselves. Add to that it probably wouldn't have any guidance capabilities and it would basically be a big RPG if they somehow got it working. Practically useless to them.

I am quite sure the State Department or the CIA have boots on the ground to help train these guys and get the thing working. They'd probably even give them access to a GPS controller/guidance system. You can't start a war with papermasche rockets. The game is a-foot!

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Unlikely given how much they hate westerners but who knows at this point, with cryptome set to release a bunch of snowden docs to avert a US war in July things could move quickly.

a reply to: DeadSeraph

I would say phase 2 may well be Saudi Arabia the prize there is 300 combat aircraft including Panavia Toronado's,F15 and F15E's and Eurofighter typhoons,if he is any sort of General he is not taking on Israel without an airforce,there are only 300 US advisors in Saudi Arabia,they have no tanks,and ISIS has many sympathisers in their military an untested military which is probably on a par with Iraq's...

I could imagine this thing launching into the sky then descending back down to the safe zone and killing all ISIS watching.

originally posted by: Thorneblood
a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Unlikely given how much they hate westerners but who knows at this point, with cryptome set to release a bunch of snowden docs to avert a US war in July things could move quickly.

Ahhhh, I think it's pretty likely. Gone are the "clumsy" days when John Stockwell (CIA) was in Angola and SWA (Namibia now) organizing training and supplying weapons for UNITA guerrillas (and logistics for the SADF through CI) in the Angolan War with the MLA, Cubans and Russians. Or for that matter, when my friends were in Granada and Nicaragua. They got much better covering their tracks and organizing weapons deals, equipment and training after 1988.

I wonder if they could make a guidance system out of a 777 autopilot?

Cheers - Dave