Yesterday rockets struck the Haifa train depot:
The train depot in Haifa where eight people were killed in a rocket strike Sunday was hit for a second time Tuesday afternoon, as fresh barrages of Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck the northern towns of Haifa and Safed.
Israel Radio said that six rockets struck Haifa, Israel’s third city. Other rockets fell in open areas, the radio said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Haifa, medics said.
The Israelis prevented an attack using longer-range missiles:
On Monday, an Israel Air Force air strike in Lebanon destroyed at least ten long-range Iranian-made missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, the IAF’s chief operations officer, Brigadier General Ram Shmueli, said.
The officials said an IAF aircraft targeted a Hezbollah truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under military regulations.
Officials said the destroyed missile was an Iranian-made “Zilzal,” which has a range of about 200 kilometers.
Lebanese TV stations broadcast video pictures of the downed missile which they initially reported was an IAF aircraft falling to the ground.
As best as I can tell this, the Zelzal-2, is the weapon being referred to:
Israel has also, apparently, attacked a Lebanese military base:
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Israel struck a Lebanese army base outside Beirut and flattened a house near the border, killing at least 16 people in a new wave of bombings, while Hezbollah fired more rockets at northern Israel. Diplomats stepped up efforts to end the conflict, which has sent foreigners fleeing by land, sea and air.
At this point there’s no clear end in sight.
UPDATE: More on Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal from Strategy Page.
Dave, that’s a pretty big and heavy looking missile. How big would a truck carrying ten of them be? Could you just stack ’em like cordwood or would safety considerations be involved?
In the dictionary, for the word “cynic”, there’s a picture of me. Just the way I’m wired.
Regards, Cernig
Yup. 3,545 kg. That’s why I wanted to post the picture. I had some questions about the news reports, too.
Hi Dave,
Iraq once had a 35 tonne carrying capacity truck, the Ural-Iveco-6429. It managed to buy exactly 60 of them. Of course that weight doesn’t include any framework to keep those ten missiles from rolling around and banging into each other and the trailer itself. Call it 40 tonnes all up – or 44 US tons (88,000 pounds). To pull that you need a big truck – like a major low-loader of the tank-transport ilk. A standard heavy freight truck like you see on the freeways has a load of maybe half that. Do any such trucks even exist in Lebanon?
I suspect we’re being lied to.
Regards, Cernig
Well, I definitely have received the impression that the news is being tailored. First casualty, and all that.
Another possibility is that the reporters just aren’t distinguishing among different kinds of ordnance. There could be longer-range missile and a bunch of much shorter range and they could be reporting them as “10 missilesâ€.