“A rocket was fired early today at two American naval ships docked in southern Jordan, killing a Jordanian soldier and marking the first attack on American military ships in the region in five years,” the Times reports.
A rocket was fired at the same time from apparently the same area at an airport in a neighboring Israeli port, hitting a stretch of road and wounding a taxi driver, news agencies reported, citing Israeli officials and witnesses. A third projectile was fired at a Jordanian hospital around the southern port of Aqaba but did no damage.
No one claimed immediate responsibility for the simultaneous attacks, which displayed audacity in their use of military-style weapons and techniques. In October 2000, two suicide bombers detonated a launch loaded with explosives next to the American destroyer Cole as it was refueling in a port in Yemen. That attack, which killed 17 people and wounded 39 others, was attributed to Al Qaeda.
The attack today on the American vessels, the dock landing ship Ashland and the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, took place around 8:44 a.m. and missed two naval ships at dock in Aqaba, said Capt. Ryan Fitzgerald of the United States Air Force, a spokesman for the American military command in the Middle East. The tocket flew over the ships and landed on a warehouse at the pier, he said.
THERE’S MORE: Suspects have been arrested. And the Iraqi Prime Minister is accusing Jordan of allowing Saddam;s family “to finance an insurgent campaign to destabilize Iraq.”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting how the ship defense systems were not used to intercept the missles? any thoughts?
I doubt seriously if the CIWS or RAM were active at the time of launch and NSS is too slow to react. Katyusha is a relatively fast, small, target and so it is questionable as to whether R2 could handle multiple inbound rounds regardless.
In any case, this is like unto one of those ‘drive by’ scenarios in a movie whereby the enraged home owner comes out and caps off a few rounds after the teenage gunmen have squib-shattered a few potted plants on his front porch.
Unfortunately, while nobody considers what is _DOWNRANGE_ of the fleeing vehicle that junior and his double barrel shotgun are aimed at in Hollyweird; the USN is all too cognizant of what happens to the nominal ‘innocents’ when a rotary gun caps off 500rds on a high grazing angle trying to intercept a missile coming in from across a crowded harbor or city.
In such a for-grins instance, about the best you can do is put yourself on the opposite side of a restricted access/monitored headland or behind arab fishing/junk type targets so as to deny the use of laser rangefinding and make all shots unaimed.
I suppose fitting the deck edges with LWR might at least provide a cue to a gunship on DLI alert and smoke pots might be a wise investment if further (concentrated) attacks are likely.
I would also suggest moving the ship to slightly different locations through the course of the day and, particularly at night, taking further mine/satchel protection measures with nets and fixed underwater sensors.
Where this means having an independent tug (Again, I doubt if a ship that big is going to have instantaneous ability to get underway) force, you probably need to bring them on the well deck. Obviously, contract boats only bring with them a potential security conflict with onboard explosives in close proximity.
It seems clear that the U.S. presence, while officially ‘tolerated’, is under-the-table being pressured to either alter their course in Iraq or be considered defacto _unwelcome_ throughout the ME/PG.
TRUTH: We _NEED_ to get Sea Light or a THEL/Nautilus equivalent on these ships. After all, is the mini-MRL intercept mission not what the role that bloody Israeli’s originally cast the need for a DEW in?
Much better aimpoint control (the target absorbs 90%+ of the energy and any detonation further anaprop diffuses the beam), much faster reaction and, unlike a DIRCM, it is _hardkill_ solution which means guidance or no makes little difference.
Just googling around for info on this rocket and it looks like the real deal (as compared to the “homemade” ones they fire from Gaza, which is what I expected when I first heard this story). How the hell could they have missed? That is one big target, especialy it they fired at it broadside. Are they just that bad that they have to have a human either fly or drive everything into its target?
rutty: ‘how did they miss?’
A: inderect fire. no sight.
http://www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2005/Aug/19/26968000.htm
From the Jordanian News Agency offical source.
It seems that the warehouse was owned by the Jordanian military and so too was the hospital. The only soldier killed was Jordanian. Could it be the attack was against Jordanian targets as a result of US cooperation in the GWOT? as the news item states the firing position used was a warehouse rented by Iraqis/Egyptians days before.
If the attack was against US ships the headline should surely read “American ships missed three times in a row” or :”US ship near rocket attack as Jordanian soldier killed”.
I’m sure ‘the onion’ will resolve any confusion following their insightful nukehavistan expose.
I thought news reports mentioned that they were Katyusha rockets, which are area weapons, not precision ones. Simliar to 2.75″ FFAR or Zuni rockets. Basically, an unguided ballistic weapon.
So, tough to accurately aim.