Saudi Arabia intercepts ballistic missile over capital [Developing Story] - Sensationalist Headlines

[B]Updated 2:50 PM ET, Sat November 4, 2017 - Developing Story - More to Come [/B][QUOTE=Article] The Yemeni Air Force targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Saturday with a ballistic missile, according to Yemen's Houthi-controlled Defense Ministry. The missile was intercepted over north-east Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense said in a statement carried on Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television. Yemen's Defense Ministry said the missile attack "shook the Saudi capital" and the operation was successful. The Yemeni ministry also said the attack was conducted using a Yemeni-made, long-range ballistic missile called the "Burqan 2H." [/QUOTE] Source: [URL]http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/04/middleeast/saudi-arabia-ballistic-missile/index.html[/URL]

A... ballistic missile? How the hell did they get their hands on that?

The Yemeni Air Force seems to have upgraded their arsenal..here's hoping they only got one BM.

Glad the intercept solution was good.. what were they thinking?!

Does it say which system shot it down? PATRIOT? I know they just bought THAAD, but I don't think its there yet. Also that's definitely not a "long" range (not an actual designation for the ballistic missiles, it goes Short Range, Medium, Intermediate, and then Intercontinental), the particular missile in the article is a Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM). Hope more information comes out soon.

[QUOTE=hhcheese;52855870]Does it say which system shot it down? PATRIOT? I know they just bought THAAD, but I don't think its there yet. Also that's definitely not a "long" range (not an actual designation for the ballistic missiles, it goes Short Range, Medium, Intermediate, and then Intercontinental), the particular missile in the article is a Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM). Hope more information comes out soon.[/QUOTE] video in the source reports PATRIOT was used to take it down.

Houthis have, had, and used many a Scud (homebrew version, whatever) before. They were either captured from old Yemeni arsenals, or allegedly given by Iran. The only new thing here is it managed to get so close to the capital.

[QUOTE=scratch (nl);52855877]video in the source reports PATRIOT was used to take it down.[/QUOTE] Good stuff, gives more confidence to the weapons system. Probably a PAC-3 that knocked it down.

Oh boy oh boy shit is about to go down. The Saudis are about to lay their dicks out on the table man.

This is nothing new, except maybe that it penetrated the Saudi airspace. I believe that since 2015, dozens of missiles coming from Yemen(Iranian made scudlikes) have been intercepted by the Patriot and/or THAAD systems that they have. [url]https://whitefleet.net/2016/07/16/raytheon-claims-100-success-rate-for-patriot-missiles-in-saudi-service/[/url] Here is a news article regarding the Patriot system that also addresses the saudi patriots. Really doubt you will see more activity from the Saudi's then normal, outside of the air force striking the launchers if they were detected. Keep in mind that they have been fighting the Yemeni Houthi government(and archiving questionable results) for like 2 years now.

Swear life is just one giant civs game run by a.i that has gone off the deep end.

How big a payload would a weapon like that be carrying anyway?

[QUOTE=Hiccuper;52855977]How big a payload would a weapon like that be carrying anyway?[/QUOTE] Shy of 1000 kilos of explosives. Basically imagine a large two lane street, the crater would be the diameter of the street and easily 20 feet deep, and that's just the dead on impact spot.

[QUOTE=Hiccuper;52855977]How big a payload would a weapon like that be carrying anyway?[/QUOTE] More specifically, what [I]kind[/I] of payload?

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;52855950]This is nothing new, except maybe that it penetrated the Saudi airspace. I believe that since 2015, dozens of missiles coming from Yemen(Iranian made scudlikes) have been intercepted by the Patriot and/or THAAD systems that they have. [url]https://whitefleet.net/2016/07/16/raytheon-claims-100-success-rate-for-patriot-missiles-in-saudi-service/[/url] Here is a news article regarding the Patriot system that also addresses the saudi patriots. Really doubt you will see more activity from the Saudi's then normal, outside of the air force striking the launchers if they were detected. Keep in mind that they have been fighting the Yemeni Houthi government(and archiving questionable results) for like 2 years now.[/QUOTE] That's a great article. As far as I know, THAAD hasn't had any non-test environment intercepts yet, Saudi's just bought it. Go Patriot!

[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;52855983]More specifically, what [I]kind[/I] of payload?[/QUOTE] likely not nuclear

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;52856003]likely not nuclear[/QUOTE] Boy, somebody drops a nuke or attempts to, I except there to be like 50+ new posts about it. Mods would have a shit trying to get shit straight.

[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;52856003]likely not nuclear[/QUOTE] definitely not, if a nuclear bomb were intercepted in the air then everyone on earth would know about it within the following 20 minutes

[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;52855983]More specifically, what [I]kind[/I] of payload?[/QUOTE] Conventional explosive Scuds are really not that big of a deal, Saudis dealt with them before

Yemen? A country where for years now over half the population doesn't own or eat anything at all, ffs. And the idiots just somehow manage to fire off missiles at a country vastly more developed then their own. Holy shit, I know there's a war going on down there but there are better ways to commit military suicide. Do they WANT the coalitions against them to grow even bigger? Does yemen even have an official governement anymore? Last time I checked, rebels LOLanarchy'd the living fuck out of them and left that country to rot

[QUOTE=MendozaMan;52856328]Yemen? A country where for years now over half the population doesn't own or eat anything at all, ffs. And the idiots just somehow manage to fire off missiles at a country vastly more developed then their own. Holy shit, I know there's a war going on down there but there are better ways to commit military suicide. Do they WANT the coalitions against them to grow even bigger? Does yemen even have an official governement anymore? Last time I checked, rebels LOLanarchy'd the living fuck out of them and left that country to rot[/QUOTE] You talk as if Saudi Arabia hasn't been militarily intervening in Yemen for some time now and that this attack was completely without any provocation.

Saudi arabia ain't gonna do [I]shit[/I] because doing shit would break the illusion that their military is anything more than completely worthless, and without that illusion, Iran gets the local power monopoly.

Not surprising. The Houthis have already put a few ships in Davy Jones's locker, and have been actually taking over some smaller outposts inside of Saudi territory. I'll give the Houthis one thing, they are some terrifyingly good fighters, but that may also be thanks to the fact that the Saudi military is comprised of idiots with no loyalty and lots of money.

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;52857289]You talk like you can sink ships from land with good fighting ability[/QUOTE] anything can happen if you believe hard enough

Everyday I hear news about Saudi military/Yemen houthis fucking the saudi's you gotta wonder how the fuck they can have state of the art weaponry and lose against flipflop wearing rebels with AKs chewing on leaves I know its all due to a leadership issue, but it still fucking amaze me, shows you that even if you have the best toys doesn't you can fight good.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;52857694]Everyday I hear news about Saudi military/Yemen houthis fucking the saudi's you gotta wonder how the fuck they can have state of the art weaponry and lose against flipflop wearing rebels with AKs chewing on leaves I know its all due to a leadership issue, but it still fucking amaze me, shows you that even if you have the best toys doesn't you can fight good.[/QUOTE] People either keep forgetting or disregarding that old saying about a disciplined and trained soldier being the most effective weapon any army can hope for. Or If not particularily disciplined or trained, at least a sufficiently spirited and willing one will also do. A headless chicken with a jetpack and a railgun will still likely lose to the clever fox.

[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;52855834]A... ballistic missile? How the hell did they get their hands on that?[/QUOTE] Ballistic missiles aren't as rare as they used to be. Think of all the expensive toys ISIS "liberated" from Iraq. Plus a ballistic missile does not even imply being too advanced. For all we know this could've been a few hand grenades taped to the end of a model rocket kit. I wouldn't put it past the Saudi's to say that for action against Yemen. Think of Bush's WMDs in Iraq.

[QUOTE=matt000024;52857795]Ballistic missiles aren't as rare as they used to be. Think of all the expensive toys ISIS "liberated" from Iraq. Plus a ballistic missile does not even imply being too advanced. For all we know this could've been a few hand grenades taped to the end of a model rocket kit. I wouldn't put it past the Saudi's to say that for action against Yemen. Think of Bush's WMDs in Iraq.[/QUOTE] Why would the Saudi's need this? They are already in an active war with them bombing them at will. They don't even give a shit if they hit civilians or not. Plus the Houthi government in Yemen has a history of launching ballistic missiles, iranian made or self made and the Saudi's have a history of the patriot system intercepting said missiles.

Ugh. Scuds. Reminds me of seeing those fuckers streak through the skies back in the 90s.

[QUOTE=matt000024;52857795]Ballistic missiles aren't as rare as they used to be. Think of all the expensive toys ISIS "liberated" from Iraq. Plus a ballistic missile does not even imply being too advanced. For all we know this could've been a few hand grenades taped to the end of a model rocket kit. I wouldn't put it past the Saudi's to say that for action against Yemen. Think of Bush's WMDs in Iraq.[/QUOTE] Nah Fam, ballistic missiles =/= rocket artillery. Ballistic missiles take a much higher and faster trajectory. It goes straight up in a boost phase and comes back down at 4000+ m/s (10000+ mph) depending on the specific missile. For example a BM21 Grad doesn't fire ballistic missiles, they're unguided rockets, a scud launcher however is an SRBM. Also the article states what kind of srbm it was, if I remember correctly it's a Yemeni copy of a Iranian copy of a Soviet scud