Fox news has just reported that it was a Chinese C-802 missle that hit the Israeli warship killing two sailors, while it was on-duty blockading the harbor in Lebanon. The two other missing sailors have not yet been found. The Israeli ship was partly towed to it’s harbor after the hit, but halfway through the trip managed enough repairs to start moving on its own engines.
Final Update: Counter Terrorism Blog has a detailed analysis of the C-802 and its capabilities. Â Also they note that Israel has deployed Patriot missles, although it’s not likely that they would be effective against this type of missile launched against a ship across water, as noted below these missles have a 98% hit rate vs. ships.
Israel has deployed three PAC-2 Patriot missile batteries near Haifa, “aimed at intercepting missiles launched at the area.” But it is unlikely the PAC-2 can intercept the smaller rockets, such as the Raad, which are being launched against the city. The Patriot systems are designed to shoot down aircraft, and have been modified to shoot down larger, medium range missiles such as SCUDs. “Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) is a surface-to-air guided missile defense system designed to detect, target, and destroy incoming ballistic missiles flying three to five times the speed of sound,” reports MissileThreat.com.
The PAC-2s are being deployed to intercept longer-range missiles (ballistic missiles fired from deeper in Lebanese territory, or perhaps Syria) and to take down UAVs launched from the Lebanese coast.
Continue reading “Breaking: C-802 Missle hit Israeli Ship, not a UAV drone”
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