Iran Unveils New Unmaned Drone Bomber

[Reliant121]

And so shall the middle east degenerate into chaos.

[Tyyr]

Actually it can't reach Israel, if anything right now the problem would be them doing it to Iraq or Kuwait.

[Deepcrush]

If any of those things did reach Israel, I'd expect Israel would level several Iranian cities in response.

[Captain Seafort]

If any of those things did reach Israel, I'd expect Israel would level several Iranian cities in response.

Not unless it was carrying a nuclear warhead (which it's evidently too small for, according to Tyyr). There would certainly be a response, but it's inconceivable that the Israelis would go nuclear unless they were facing an immediate existential threat.

[Tyyr]

500lb is just too small for a Gen 1 nuke. You can make small nuclear weapons, suit case bombs are entirely possible and the US has crammed nuclear warheads into everything from air to air missiles, artillery shells, and torpedos. The thing is they are either on the small side, a few kilotons, or wickedly complex requiring tremendous engineering. Iran... well it's Iran. I'm sure they've got some intelligent people working for them and an atomic bomb really isn't all that complex but given that they're just starting off and not swimming in fissionable material I'd suspect they'd go for old reliable, a gun type nuke. Most likely it'll weigh several thousand pounds. Now eventually you could make a nuke small enough for this thing but it's a hell of a rickety platform to strap a nuke too especially if you only have a few of them.

[Sionnach Glic]

Somehow I get the impression that any of these things headed anywhere near israeli airspace would be hard-pressed to get back to Iran.

While I agree that any such drone would be shot down long before it got anywhere near an enemy base, I think the bigger problem might be in shooting down a whole bunch of them. Just looking at this thing it seems as though Iran just decided to ressurrect the V-1. It wouldn't be inconceivable for them to just build swarms of them and launch wave after wave of them against airfields or other strategic bases in Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan. If such a tactic is used to open a war with one of those countries then it's quite possible they could inflict a respectable amount of damage, simply due to their enemies not having enough missiles on-hand to shoot them all down in time.

At least, that's the sort of tactic I'd be aiming for if I were Ahmadinejad.

[Deepcrush]

If any of those things did reach Israel, I'd expect Israel would level several Iranian cities in response.

Not unless it was carrying a nuclear warhead (which it's evidently too small for, according to Tyyr). There would certainly be a response, but it's inconceivable that the Israelis would go nuclear unless they were facing an immediate existential threat.

I didn't say they'd go nuclear over it, just that they'd hit back in dramatic fashion.

[Captain Seafort]

I didn't say they'd go nuclear over it, just that they'd hit back in dramatic fashion.

Fair enough - it was the term "levelling cities" implied nukes. You can't do that with anything short of a nuke (or a few hundred heavy bombers, which Israel doesn't have).

[Deepcrush]

I didn't say they'd go nuclear over it, just that they'd hit back in dramatic fashion.

Fair enough - it was the term "levelling cities" implied nukes. You can't do that with anything short of a nuke (or a few hundred heavy bombers, which Israel doesn't have).

Most European cities, this would be true. However most cities in the middle east are easily destroyed if you're willing to put forth a little effort.

[lcpl seilicki]

unless I'm mistaken Israel launched a strike into Iran some years ago and destroyed a nuclear facility without sustaining any casualties. If that is true then I can see them doing the same thing to the factory that builds these uavs

[Deepcrush]

unless I'm mistaken Israel launched a strike into Iran some years ago and destroyed a nuclear facility without sustaining any casualties. If that is true then I can see them doing the same thing to the factory that builds these uavs

Hell, lets use some UAVs to take out these UAV factories... IRONY!

[Tsukiyumi]

unless I'm mistaken Israel launched a strike into Iran some years ago and destroyed a nuclear facility without sustaining any casualties. If that is true then I can see them doing the same thing to the factory that builds these uavs

Hell, lets use some UAVs to take out these UAV factories... IRONY!

[Aaron]

unless I'm mistaken Israel launched a strike into Iran some years ago and destroyed a nuclear facility without sustaining any casualties. If that is true then I can see them doing the same thing to the factory that builds these uavs

That was Iraq in 1982.

[lcpl seilicki]

Imo if we do a first strike on that facility it should be with either stealth aircraft, or the boys down at FT. Bragg/ Dam Neck.

With the aircraft you have plausible deniblity but you take the risk of spreading over a wide area.

With troops you still destroy the place but risk of being caught is increased by a factor of at least 50. All it takes is one radio broadcast or phone call and your f*cked

[lcpl seilicki]

unless I'm mistaken Israel launched a strike into Iran some years ago and destroyed a nuclear facility without sustaining any casualties. If that is true then I can see them doing the same thing to the factory that builds these uavs

That was Iraq in 1982.

I stand corrected