The Dawn of the Clone Wars

BRAZEN DRONE STRIKES LEAD TO QUESTIONS ABOUT SAUDI AIR DEFENSE -ANALYSIS
https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/D...to-support-questions-about-air-defense-601654

Pics of some of the drone used by the Houthi's.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/...ns-show-urgent-need-for-peace-with-yemen.html

https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategic-implications-strikes-saudi-arabia

Saudi Arabia is has the 3rd largest military budget on the planet - US and China being 1 and 2. Their air defense systems have manage to shoot down drones and antique missiles in the past - but completely failed against this new and more sophisticated threat.

That said - the Houthi Drones pale in comparison of sophistication to the Drones being produced by the US, Israel, Russia and others.

Like Chemical weapons - I think we need a ban on these weapons as well. That is not going to happen.

Clearly though - Military powers are going to have to completely revisit their defenses given this new threat.

 

53 views and not one comment on the proliferation of drone technology ... Come one people - Terminator is upon us !!

 

True that !
I cant imagine what some governments can do with unmanned aircraft. I can see millions of bird sized drones with one shot capabilities just completely annihilating anything in their way. And with this face analyzing technology they can search for specific targets to attack.

 

The fact of war has changed - pretty much over night. This is a new revolution in military technology - potentially making almost all of our current hardware obsolete. Good like trying to fly a sortie of Fighters or bombers into an airspace protected by a combination of drones and modern missile defense - Missiles -the newer ones - are essentially drones themselves already but, these missiles are getting far more technically advanced with every year.

Huge money and research has piled into missile technology over the last three decades - not by us - but by Russia/India - and later came China. If you don't think these three nation states combining forces on drone technology is not going to come up with some amazing stuff - think again.

In the feud between India and Pakistan - Pakistan F-16's shot 5 of our AIM missiles at India's Russian Migs and they all missed. The missile that India fired did not miss and took out one of the F-16s.
It seems the Saudi Arabian air defense - which is US technology- did not fair that well. Russia is joking that perhaps they need the S-400 system.

Any way you slice it dice it though - this is game changing technology - which - in the hands of non nation states - could wreak tremendous havoc. .

 

Moon of Alabama? Are you kidding me? Its only 338 airmiles from Basrah to Abqaiq.

 

What is your problem - I do not quote a single word from "Moon of Alabama" - I used it for the picture. The sources I quote from are the Jerusalem Post ... and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Get a grip.

 

The devices in the picture look like missiles, not drones. They look like bombs with wings and engines - missiles. They don't come home after deployment.

 

Not much difference these days between drone and missile. The ones that do not come home are "missile drones"

 

You've got to realize though that what most likely happened is user error, including maintenance failures, given the baksheesh culture endemic in the saudi and other mid east/3rd world militaries.

 

No, they are just missiles.

 

Besides Saudi Arabia, and the systems under its control, the US Central Command has numerous assets in the region, including all sorts of air defense systems, that -- if at all as effective as being pretended by some -- should have been able to detect such an attack. The US military industrial complex will not recover from what happened anytime soon. They will need another fake propaganda war, like "shock and awe", to even begin to recover from this. Of course, they are in the meantime busy spinning tales and I see you are giving them a helping hand too.

 

Did you think the shock and awe campaign didn't occur? Lol

You guys are going to have a very bad time when you find out we've still got that capability

 

Shock and awe occurred, but it was only a propaganda show. Saddam had little control over his military by 2003; most of his officers were already bribed and had left their posts by the time the US approached Baghdad. America's victory over Iraq had little to do with 'shock and awe'. Indeed, the efficacy of any air war has been proven limited by numerous wars that have taken place, even the one that started the myth, namely Desert Storm. In none of these air campaigns, was the US able to accomplish anything of note through the air. Not take out missiles. Not take out leaders. Not take out the main military equipment.

 

and it has to be said even Iraq went on a hell of a long time after the US claimed they had won. Has it ended?

 

Nice to know you are safe from the American military.

 

A long long time ago.

 

Have all Americans left Iraq?

 

No. Nor are they fighting anybody.

 

True, but even the insurgency issue aside, on the point of the efficacy of air power, here are the things to note in reverse chronological order:
1- Saudi Arabia v Houthis -- besides vandalism and destruction of civilian infrastructure, no discernible effect on the Houthi's war making capability.
2- Israel v Hezbollah -- besides vanadalism and destruction of Lebanon's civilian infrastracture, no discernible effect on Hezbollah's war making capability.
3- "Operation Iraqi Freedom" -- no serious targets were hit, Saddam was already little more than the mayor of Baghdad, and the capture of Baghdad wasn't accomplished by air power. Saddam's generals had been contacted by the CIA for over a year and had already planned their retirement with them. They just left their posts and made sure his army (or what little remained of it) basically lacked any leadership. In the meantime, it wasn't US air power that plucked Saddam from his hole. It was a CIA informant.
4- Desert Storm -- the US didn't take out almost anything of value, failing to stop Iraq's media broadcast, failed to take out Saddam, failed to take out his Scuds. Even the easy targets, such as the Iraqi air force, were able to escape destruction and Iraq was able to organize a mass flight of its air force to Iran (130+ air craft) from air field supposedly destroyed and planes and pilots that should not have been able to coordinate such a thing 3 days into a massive air campaign.

 

I have maintained that if Iran pushes the US, the US will blink. If it doesn't, you will find out what a real war looks like.

 

Yes, I know the equation with Iraq that American's keep making is based on ignorance.

 

Look I know you can't say what you really mean because you're working in the propaganda ministry and they monitor you, but just keep telling us all about how you've got nothing to fear from American air power

 

o noes!!! We're so terrified of a nation that can't even reach our homeland but whose homeland we can strike with impunity

 

I think that is the most destructive thing that has happened to America. It believes it can attack and kill with impunity. Maybe not with Iran though. You should check out what American military analysts said

 

Hopefully there won't be any more wars unless Iran keeps asking for one. It that happens you will discover the true meaning of war.