WeaponSurvey // Palestinian military capabilities
Received this promotional note from the editor at weaponsurvey.
Any thoughts?
Quote:
WeaponSurvey
<http://www.weaponsurvey.com/> offers readers a detailed presentation of Palestinian military capabilities by meticulously cataloging, analyzing and archiving relevant data, including:
* Rockets, Missiles & Mortars
* IEDs & EFPs (Improvised Explosive Devices & Explosively Formed Projectiles)
* SALW (Small Arms/Light Weapons)
* Chemical and Biological Agents
* Weapons Smuggling Tunnels
* Egypt-PA Border
* Terrorist Groups - Background Information
* Regional Scenario Projections
* Counter-Terrorism Technology
I hope you find the site to be a useful resource.
OK, I'll have a go at this (of course!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
SWCAdmin
Received this promotional note from the editor at weaponsurvey.
Any thoughts?
The website is in large part mish-mash of recycled IDF statements and less-than-reliable (and often highly partisan) press coverage. They also take at face value the often silly, grandiose claims of Palestinian radicals about weapons and their alleged capabilities. (As an aside, it was said in Gaza that when Aaraft's wife, Suha, was pregnant with their daughter, six Palestinian factions claimed responsibility... :D )
For example:
Quote:
In November 2004, Hamas revealed it was developing the first Palestinian anti-aircraft missile. According to Hamas operative Nizar Rayan, the missile would be used to down Israeli helicopters, UAV’s, and other aircraft operating above the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources note the anti-aircraft missile project is based on expertise and training provided by Iran and Hizballah. Indeed, Hamas has sought to produce a variant of the Soviet-origin SA-7 - deployed by Hizbullah in southern Lebanon.
... is pretty revealing: anyone who knows anything about the enormous difficulty of developing an indigenous MANPAD, and the shortage of key materials (including reliable propellants and IR guidance electronics) will recognize it as extremely implausible RUMINT. Despite years of IDF claims about SAM-7s in the West Bank and Gaza, no one has yet to fire, find, or see one.
Elsewhere, the site conflates artillery rockets with anti-tank weapons, freely labels any 122mm locally-produced rocket as a "Grad" (even though they're typically made with pipe-casings and homebrew explosives that can't really be aimed and often fail to detonate), and shows a dramatic picture of a BM-21 firing although no Palestinian group in the WBG has MRLs. I could go on and on.. :rolleyes:
This isn't to say that the Palestinian rockets aren't an issue, but the website really doesn't offer any useful insight into inventories, capabilities, employment, or implications.
Oh, and they cite DEBKAfile, which I know is an OS favourite of Ted's ;)
shifting to the substance of the topic...
One thing that I know worries IDF planners contemplating a Gaza ground operation is the extent to which Hamas has learned to apply IED lessons from Lebanon and especially Iraq.
Politically, Israel is enormously sensitive to military casualties. A single deep-buried IED that destroys a Merkava or APC can rapidly transform military success into a political liability. There had been a few cases of this pre-Gaza disengagement, but its clear now that both the demonstration effect of IED use elsewhere coupled with greater access to explosives, better preparation time, tunneling under key access roads, etc. makes this much more of a potential challenge.
While it is hardly the major factor shaping Israeli punitive and retaliatory strategy (post-Annapolis diplomatic developments are far, far more important), it does increase the political risk of a ground operation.
It also points to the significance of Iraq-style tactics spreading further afield (not that many of them are really new, but access to both examples and technical knowledge has certainly proliferated).