Low-Tech Grenades A Danger to Helicopters

[Otis Willie]

Low-Tech Grenades A Danger to Helicopters

(EXCERPT) By Renae Merle Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday,
November 18, 2003; Page A17

For the hundreds of U.S. helicopters ferrying troops and supplies
around Iraq, one of the most persistent dangers is also an old one:
rocket-propelled grenades.

The low-tech weapons have been mentioned as possible culprits in three
helicopter crashes this month, including Saturday's collision of two
Black Hawks -- the deadliest single incident for U...

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---------------------------
Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com

[David Bromage]

Otis Willie wrote:
> For the hundreds of U.S. helicopters ferrying troops and supplies
> around Iraq, one of the most persistent dangers is also an old one:
> rocket-propelled grenades.

Tom Clancy once said (words to the effect of) the only things the Soviet
Union made well were vodka and RPGs.

Cheers
David

[Dav1936531]

>From: David Bromage
>
>
>Tom Clancy once said (words to the effect of) the only things the Soviet
>Union made well were vodka and RPGs.
>Cheers
>David

As he spoke, Clancy must have forgotten about the AK-47, a wide spectrum of
aircraft, anti-aircraft weapons, ballistic missiles, tanks, and many naval
weapons, not the least of which is the "Sunburn" missile and its latest
derivatives.....an advancement that the US Navy has yet to figure out how to
counter.
Dave

[Alan Minyard]

On 19 Nov 2003 02:51:48 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:

>>From: David Bromage
>
>>
>>Tom Clancy once said (words to the effect of) the only things the Soviet
>>Union made well were vodka and RPGs.
>>Cheers
>>David
>
>As he spoke, Clancy must have forgotten about the AK-47, a wide spectrum of
>aircraft, anti-aircraft weapons, ballistic missiles, tanks, and many naval
>weapons, not the least of which is the "Sunburn" missile and its latest
>derivatives.....an advancement that the US Navy has yet to figure out how to
>counter.
>Dave

And the combat record of the Sunburn is???? The USN has no need nor
use for such a weapon.

And you have no Idea what the USN can or cannot counter.

Al Minyard

[Blair Maynard]

"Alan Minyard" > wrote in message
...
> On 19 Nov 2003 02:51:48 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:
>
> And the combat record of the Sunburn is???? The USN has no need nor
> use for such a weapon.
>
> And you have no Idea what the USN can or cannot counter.
>
> Al Minyard

Nope. There is no known counter for the Sunburn missile.

You see, the Sunburn missile is one of the cleverest, most devious creations
known to man. It is completely demoralizing and tantamount to a WMD. US
diplomats have repeatedly protested its testing, but to no avail.

Since the early 90's, the Russians have been equiping each of their ships
with a classified number of overweight Russian veterans of the Great
Patriotic War. These veterans are chosen carefully. Only the ones who have
just recently returned from vacation on the Black Sea are selected. As
usual, these veterans have sunbathed too much, turning themselves an unholy
pink-red color. Some reports indicate that Russian scientists actually put
these selected individuals thru another radiation treatment to increase the
specularity of their skin, but this hasn't been confirmed.

On orders from Moscow. and only on orders directly form Moscow, a Russian
ship will load one of these veterans in to a launching tube. The veteran
then disrobes down to the black skin-tight skivvy he was wearing on the
beach by the Black Sea. With confirmation from Moscow, the ship launches the
veteran so that he passes directly over the intended target area, usually an
enemy ship or fleet.

The affect is devestating. The approach completely demoralizing. Most
sailors above decks jump overboard when they see this hideous, glowing
creature approaching at such a high speed. The fear is infectuous. Few can
withstand the impulse to abandon ship or commit suicide. Just when the
veteran is passing over the target, and the sailors, the ones who survived
the approach with some neurological facilities still intact, are just about
to breath a sigh of relief, it happens. The veteran removes his skivvy.

Nobody, not even the Russians, know the full affect of a Sunburn missile
once the hurtling veteran has removed his skin-tight bathing suit. Nobody
has been found from a target area who could describe the experience. It is
rumored that a few years ago, the US Navy once found a Russian frigate
floating freely on the high seas in the North Pacific. The entire crew was
dead, apparently most had died from self-inflicted wounds. There was no
conclusive evidence, but the Navy strongly suspected that one of their
veterans had accidentally gone off, maybe even removed his skivvy.
Consultations at the highest diplomatic levels followed this discovery, and
the whole incident has been hushed up.

You see, there is no known defense against such a diabolical weapon system.
There is no hope.

[Nele_VII]

Tom Clancy writes fiction. Interesting, but fiction. And ALWAYS
underestimates Soviet/Russian weapon systems.

The last guy who thought that way, fought them and lost was called adolf
hitler (not worthy to press caps for a name).

--

Nele

NULLA ROSA SINE SPINA
Dav1936531 wrote in message
>...
>>From: David Bromage
>
>>
>>Tom Clancy once said (words to the effect of) the only things the Soviet
>>Union made well were vodka and RPGs.
>>Cheers
>>David
>
>As he spoke, Clancy must have forgotten about the AK-47, a wide spectrum of
>aircraft, anti-aircraft weapons, ballistic missiles, tanks, and many naval
>weapons, not the least of which is the "Sunburn" missile and its latest
>derivatives.....an advancement that the US Navy has yet to figure out how
to
>counter.
>Dave

[Dav1936531]

>From: Alan Minyard
>
>
>And the combat record of the Sunburn is???? The USN has no need nor use for
such a weapon.
>
>And you have no Idea what the USN can or cannot counter.
>Al Minyard

Of course, the combat record of the Sunburn is non-existent.

And it is also true that I am not privy to any information regarding counters
to the Sunburn (and its latest derivatives), however, it appears to be a weapon
with some non-zero probability of making it past a battle group's point
defenses. The effects of such missile's slipping through those defenses would
be devastating.

That said, it is also an example of a Russian (former Soviet) produced weapon,
beyond the RPG, that negates Clancy's theory on the incompetance of their
engineering and manufacturing technologies.
Dave

[[email protected]]

"Blair Maynard" > wrote:

>There is no hope.

Good one Blair!... :)
--

-Gord.

[Alan Minyard]

On 20 Nov 2003 21:37:08 GMT, (Dav1936531) wrote:

>>From: Alan Minyard
>
>>
>>And the combat record of the Sunburn is???? The USN has no need nor use for
>such a weapon.
>>
>>And you have no Idea what the USN can or cannot counter.
>>Al Minyard
>
>Of course, the combat record of the Sunburn is non-existent.
>
>And it is also true that I am not privy to any information regarding counters
>to the Sunburn (and its latest derivatives), however, it appears to be a weapon
>with some non-zero probability of making it past a battle group's point
>defenses. The effects of such missile's slipping through those defenses would
>be devastating.
>
>That said, it is also an example of a Russian (former Soviet) produced weapon,
>beyond the RPG, that negates Clancy's theory on the incompetance of their
>engineering and manufacturing technologies.
>Dave

Only if it works, and there is no evidence of that.

Al Minyard

[Eric Moore]

There's actually been some thought given to using *airbags* to protect
helicopters and ground vehicles from RPG's. See:

http://aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp?id=news/veh11203.xml


Probably more practical for ground vehicles than helos.