Russian cruise missiles hit Iran

[Blue3]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/politics/russian-missiles-syria-landed-iran/index.html


What in the world. That's scary.

[Silent Hunter]

Well, not a good advertisement for the export version, that's for sure.

[dead0man]

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Wtf, how on earth can you fail that badly?

[Silent Hunter]

I would guess some of them broke down in flight and crashed; this does happen.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Syria and Iran don't even share a border. How the hell can Russia justify this as a mistake?

[ingemann]

Syria and Iran don't even share a border. How the hell can Russia justify this as a mistake?

How do you get a missile from Russia to Syria? I don't think it would be the best idea to fly it over a NATO country like for example... Turkey. That leave the Caucasus-Iran-Iraq route.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes, but you'd still have to seriously screw up the trajectory if your missile falls thousands of kilometers earlier than it should have.

[ingemann]

Yes, but you'd still have to seriously screw up the trajectory if your missile falls thousands of kilometers earlier than it should have.

Technical error it happens for everybody, and not to sound like pro-Russian tool, the only reason we hear about this, is because there's interest in public humiliating Russia.

[Cory]

Technical error it happens for everybody, and not to sound like pro-Russian tool, the only reason we hear about this, is because there's interest in public humiliating Russia.

[dead0man]

I'm pretty sure we'd hear about a cruise missile, fired in anger, falling short of it's target by many hundreds of kms by any country that shot it, whether it was humiliating the right guys or not.

[Cory]

I'm pretty sure we'd hear about a cruise missile, fired in anger, falling short of it's target by many hundreds of kms by any country that shot it, whether it was humiliating the right guys or not.

Please elaborate. Is there part of this story I'm missing?

[Hnv1]

Cruise missiles aren't the most trusty weapon systems that is known. The low altitude they fly in increase the malfunction rates drastically compared to ballistic weapons. They are also very easy to intercept from ground weapons

[dead0man]

I'm pretty sure we'd hear about a cruise missile, fired in anger, falling short of it's target by many hundreds of kms by any country that shot it, whether it was humiliating the right guys or not.

Please elaborate. Is there part of this story I'm missing?

Are you suggesting Russia fired the missiles at ISIS in something other than anger?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'm pretty sure we'd hear about a cruise missile, fired in anger, falling short of it's target by many hundreds of kms by any country that shot it, whether it was humiliating the right guys or not.

Please elaborate. Is there part of this story I'm missing?

Are you suggesting Russia fired the missiles at ISIS in something other than anger?

Given the nature of the target, cruise missiles are a very poor choice of weapon.  The only reason Russia is using them is to get some practice firing them on actual targets so it can figure out how to improve them for situations in which it matters. Not only that but if Russia were firing cruise missiles in anger, there are other targets they are far more upset about than ISIS.

[Storebought]

This story is absolute rubbish. No such incident has been reported by any other news agency (except the UK Telegraph, which is just copying the original CNN report).

[Blue3]

This story is absolute rubbish. No such incident has been reported by any other news agency (except the UK Telegraph, which is just copying the original CNN report).

Um, it was on all major US news channels and websites.

[Nhoj]

Syria and Iran don't even share a border. How the hell can Russia justify this as a mistake?

How do you get a missile from Russia to Syria? I don't think it would be the best idea to fly it over a NATO country like for example... Turkey. That leave the Caucasus-Iran-Iraq route.

Well they can fire from  the med and do. This was about a show of power moreso.

[Famous Mortimer]

Syria and Iran don't even share a border. How the hell can Russia justify this as a mistake?

How do you get a missile from Russia to Syria? I don't think it would be the best idea to fly it over a NATO country like for example... Turkey. That leave the Caucasus-Iran-Iraq route.

Well they can fire from  the med and do. This was about a show of power moreso.

Can't they fire from their base at Tartus?

[Storebought]

This story is absolute rubbish. No such incident has been reported by any other news agency (except the UK Telegraph, which is just copying the original CNN report).

Um, it was on all major US news channels and websites.

I should have been more clear: I meant the initial US defense officials' suggestion of a short strike hasn't been corroborated by independent or foreign analysis. US and foreign media are all just repeating what CNN reported initially. Here is an example of what I mean:

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You must be logged in to read this quote.

Four cruise missiles missing their target and crashing into an allied nation is too notable of an event for all reports of it merely to repeat allegations of unnamed spokespersons. Contrast this to the MSF hospital bombing in Afghanistan, which was verified immediately and reported worldwide.

I will gladly retract what I've said before if I am mistaken, but until then I stand by my original assessment: the original claim is unsubstantiated and should not have been broadcast without some type of independent verification.

[Famous Mortimer]

This story is absolute rubbish. No such incident has been reported by any other news agency (except the UK Telegraph, which is just copying the original CNN report).

Um, it was on all major US news channels and websites.

I should have been more clear: I meant the initial US defense officials' suggestion of a short strike hasn't been corroborated by independent or foreign analysis. US and foreign media are all just repeating what CNN reported initially. Here is an example of what I mean:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Four cruise missiles missing their target and crashing into an allied nation is too notable of an event for all reports of it merely to repeat allegations of unnamed spokespersons. Contrast this to the MSF hospital bombing in Afghanistan, which was verified immediately and reported worldwide.

I will gladly retract what I've said before if I am mistaken, but until then I stand by my original assessment: the original claim is unsubstantiated and should not have been broadcast without some type of independent verification.

The original headline has "US officials say" right in the headline. That's true, they said it and the US making such a claim is notable.

I'm actually somewhat sympathetic to the idea that this whole incident might be propaganda, but it's ridiculous to say that this news should not have been broadcast.

[Storebought]

Russian cruise missile strikes is a newsworthy event, but shortfalls into Iran clearly did not happen. Al Jazeera (for instance) didn't even mention the "US officials claim ... " in their report on the event, nor should they have. News agencies aren't obliged to report hoaxes, or every unconfirmed allegation from unnamed government fonctionnaires -- they'd choke from the number of Kremlin press releases alone.

But that is a side issue to the fact that the US is now resorting to the equivalent of blowing raspberries as a semi-official response to surprising and deeply hostile action.

[ingemann]

Syria and Iran don't even share a border. How the hell can Russia justify this as a mistake?

How do you get a missile from Russia to Syria? I don't think it would be the best idea to fly it over a NATO country like for example... Turkey. That leave the Caucasus-Iran-Iraq route.

Well they can fire from  the med and do. This was about a show of power moreso.

Can't they fire from their base at Tartus?

I'm not a weapon expert, so I really don't know what kind of infrastructure cruiser missiles need. My guess would be yes, but to be honest I don't know.

[Cory]

Can't they fire from their base at Tartus?

Probably a combination of not being bothered to transport the infrastructure there and wanting to demonstrate their long-range naval cruise missile capabilities.

[Silent Hunter]

Can't they fire from their base at Tartus?

Probably a combination of not being bothered to transport the infrastructure there and wanting to demonstrate their long-range naval cruise missile capabilities.

Also, the INF Treaty prohibits the Russians from having long-range land-based cruise missile launchers.