I suspect that we are in the presence of another one of those cute urban myths.
A
factor that needs to be considered is that a hand held police radar gun has a
thirty watt transmitter. I very much doubt that it would be detected by anyone
more than a mile or so away and it certainly wouldn't transmit a high enough
energy signature for it to be mistaken for an active targeting system.
Honest, I tried to stay out of this but I just couldn't help myself.
Mike Clark
B382100417
Bob Palmer wrote:
> Dick, Listers,
>
> Perhaps these aircraft were from the "other branch" of our military (the,
> choke, Air Force?) flying F-16s armed with HARM missiles. See, for example,
> this official US government news bulletin:
>
> F-16 fires HARM missile at Iraq radar site
> Released: Jun 30, 1998
>
> WASHINGTON (AFNS) - An Air Force F-16 pilot fired a radar-seeking missile
> at an Iraqi site Tuesday after the ground station locked on to aircraft
> patrolling the southern no-fly zone.
> The pilot, assigned to the 4404th Wing (Provisional), fired one High-Speed
> Anti-Radiation Missile at 1:30 a.m. EDT. The incident occurred near Al
> Basrah in southern Iraq. The coalition aircraft returned to their bases of
> operation without further incident.
> "This is considered an action requiring aggressive defensive measures,"
> said a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
> The aircraft flying in support of Operation Southern Watch were from
> England, Germany and the United States. Ten of them were in the vicinity at
> the time of the incident.
> Southern Watch missions continue, including normal aircraft sorties
> throughout the no-fly zone. Coalition forces are investigating this latest
> incident and assessing battle damage.
>
> Now, I don't recall, but was that US helicopter shot down in northern Iraq
> hit with a heat seeking Sidwinder from a Navy or Air Force plane? A little
> easier to forgive in northern Iraq than northern England I would think. ;-)
>
> Bob
>
> At 12:16 PM 11/29/99 -0500, TigerCoupe@aol.com wrote:
> >In a message dated 11/29/99 2:15:29 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> >Colin.Mills@bluewin.ch writes:
> >
> > > a Sidewinder air-to-ground missile
> >
> >Colin,
> >
> >Great story, except that the Sidewinder is an air-to-air missile, not
> >air-to-ground (there are also ground-to-air versions, such as the "Stinger").
> > It could only be used against a ground target that emitted a horrendous
> >infrared signature, such as a steam locomotive, and then only with a limited
> >chance of success because it uses an expanding rod warhead that relies on
> >proximity to the target rather than a direct hit. And WTF is the "automatic
> >protection system?" Never heard of such a thing.
> >
> >Not to worry. I just thought that since the engineers on this list often
> >intimidate us with all their smoke and mirrors that maybe some of us old
> >fighter pilots could get in a few licks, too.
> >
> >Regards,
> >Dick Barker
>
> Robert L. Palmer
> UCSD, Dept. of AMES
> 619-822-1037 (o)
> 760-599-9927 (h)
> rpalmer@ucsd.edu
> rpalmer@cts.com
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