As I was saying.. Phase 2.. Decapitation of senior leadership.. Happy New Year! And before someone condemns targeting "innocent civilians" notice the dirtbag was given advance warning to get his family out before the Hellfire missile came through the window.

The IAF on Thursday bombed a building in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, reportedly killing seven people, including senior Hamas leader and cleric Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, and injuring thirty others.

Army Radio reported that according to Palestinian sources, his family was warned before the attack but did not leave the building.

Earlier, the IAF launched a quick-fire response shortly after a Grad-type missile slammed into the top floor of an Ashdod building.

The army said that the air force struck both the Gaza terror cell that launched the projectile and the launching device. Several Hamas homes which were used to store weapons were also bombed in the afternoon air raid.

Since Thursday morning, the IAF struck over 20 targets, including rocket launching sites in northern Gaza, as well as tunnels and a car in the southern Gaza Strip, killing several Hamas operatives.

In addition, the IAF bombed the homes of three senior Gaza terrorists.

One of the homes belonged to Mohammad Baroud, a top Popular Resistance Committees operative. The army said that Baroud was the head of all rocket cells in northern Gaza and that he was funded and supported by Hamas. The army said that there were anti-tank missiles, rockets and bombs in the home.

Another of the homes destroyed belonged to Hasim Drili, a northern Gaza Hamas operative. The army said that he had a manufacturing plant in his home for rockets, mortar shells and missiles.

The third home belonged to Tafik Abu Raf, a Hamas terror operative in the central Gaza Strip. The IDF said that he had a weapons laboratory in his house.

Not including Thursday's strikes, IAF warplanes have carried out some 500 sorties against Hamas targets, and helicopters have flown hundreds more combat missions in five days of raids, a senior Israeli military officer said Wednesday on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

More than 400 Gazans have been killed and more than 1,600 have been wounded since the start of the Gaza operation, Gaza health officials said. The UN said the Gaza death toll includes more than 60 civilians.

Meanwhile, IDF Infantry, Engineering Corps and Artillery Corps troops, as well as thousands of reserve soldiers, were awaiting an order to cross into the Strip in the event of a ground operation. The IDF said the imminent military action would be limited, but that it would involve a large number of ground forces, Israel Radio reported.

Military spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich said preparations for a ground operation were complete.

"The infantry, the artillery and other forces are ready. They're around the Gaza Strip, waiting for any calls to go inside," Leibovich said.

Also Thursday, government officials said that Israel was demanding international monitors as a key term of any future truce with Gaza factions.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who rebuffed a French proposal for a two-day timeout, won't agree to a truce unless international monitors take responsibility for enforcing it, the officials said. He had made this point in talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders who are pressing for an end to the violence, they added. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.

The idea was floated before the offensive but did not gain traction because of the complications created by the existence of rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza, defense officials said.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c...2FShowFull

Sticking It To Hamas

January 1, 2009: Four months ago, Israel ordered a thousand of the new U.S. 250 pound Small Diameter Bomb (SDB, or GBU-39). Apparently these weapons arrived quickly, because many SDBs were used during the recent Israeli air raids on Gaza.

The SDB is not cheap, Israel paid about $77,000 for each one. It was believed that Israel wanted this weapon not just for its precision, and low explosive (50 pounds) power, but also its ability to penetrate six feet of concrete. This would make it useful to take out Hezbollah bunkers and rocket storage sites in southern Lebanon, and similar facilities Hezbollah helped Hamas build in Gaza.

Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force finally got the SDB into service. The SDB was supposed to enter service in 2005, in the wake of the 2004 introduction of the 500 pound JDAM. But there were many technical problems with the SDB. That's because this was not just another "dumb bomb" with a GPS guidance kit attached. The SDB had a more effective warhead design and guidance system. It's shape is more like that of a missile than a bomb (70 inches long, 190 millimeters in diameter), with the guidance system built in. The smaller blast from the SDB results in fewer civilian casualties. Friendly troops can be closer to the target when an SDB explodes. While the 500, 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs have a spectacular effect when they go off, they are often overkill. The troops on the ground would rather have more, smaller, GPS bombs available. This caused the 500 pound JDAM to get developed quickly and put into service.

The SDBs are carried on a special carriage, which holds four of them. The carriage is mounted on a bomber just like a single larger (500, 1,000 or 2,000) pound bomb would be. For Israel, this allows each fighter-bomber to take out up to four more targets per sortie.

The SDB is basically an unpowered missile, which can glide long distances. This makes the SDB even more compact, capable and expensive. JDAM (a guidance kit attached to a dumb bomb) only cost about $26,000. The small wings allow the SDB to glide up to 70-80 kilometers (from high altitude.) SDB also has a hard front end that can punch through several feet of rock or concrete, and a warhead that does more damage than the usual dumb bomb (explosives in a metal casing.) The SDB is thus the next generation of smart bombs.

There was never any point in building a 250 pound dumb bomb, as they would be too inaccurate to be useful. But it made sense to merge the guidance kit and the bomb itself. But the superiority of guided bombs is such that the next generation of heavier (500-2000 pound) smart bombs will probably be like the SDB.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairw/...90101.aspx

May the SOB rot in HELL. He found out his 70 virgins are all men like him. allah does have a scene of humor.

Definitely not the way Robert Al-N wanted to ring in the New Year.

WMD Owl, you seem to know a lot about weapons....is there a correlation between your knowledge and the WMD that's in your name?

(01-01-2009 07:50 PM)smn1256 Wrote:  WMD Owl, you seem to know a lot about weapons....is there a correlation between your knowledge and the WMD that's in your name?

Yes. Former Navy Officer and my Thesis in Poli Sci dealt with Strategic Weapons Technology Transfers

(01-01-2009 08:08 PM)WMD Owl Wrote:  Yes. Former Navy Officer and my Thesis in Poli Sci dealt with Strategic Weapons Technology Transfers

You GO Sir Owl !!!!!!!!!

Nice to know you did your time out in the "Real World" !!!!!

.