Situational Awareness

Kudos from the Smithsonian

2007-01-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

I got a nice review of my documentary "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice" from Charles Aston, a docent at the The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is an annex of the National Air & Space Museum that's near Dulles:

Hi Michael,

Jane sent the DVD, which arrived yesterday. I watched it yesterday evening. I'd have written sooner but this is the first I've been on line today.

It was excellent! Paul Tibbetts and Enola Gay have pretty well overshadowed Sweeney and Bockscar, which is a pity. Everything went right on Tibbett's mission. Nearly everything that could go wrong on Sweeney's did. Not to denigrate Tibbets, but the Nagasaki mission demanded much more talent to pull off.

Your choice of background music is wonderful.

We are all fortunate that you conducted the interview when you did. It's said that when an old person dies, it's like a library burning down. I believe that. Once a voice has been stilled, we can never know what amazing things it might have told us had we only asked while there was time.

I will show Nagasaki to my CAP squadron and my fellow docents. I'm sure they will find it as entertaining, educational and thought provoking, as I did.

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness in making the DVD for me.

Don't forget your standing invitation for a private tour of UHC.

Regards,

Chuck

A co-worker at my present job noticed me walking around with a Finnish Air Force coffee mug and asked me about it. I told her it was a relic from my previous career as editor of a defense magazine. She told me about a friend of hers who worked as a volunteer guide at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Well, I had shot some footage of the B-29 "Enola Gay" there for my Nagasaki documentary, so I wondered if she would send him a DVD copy.

And there you go.

What's interesting about Chuck's take on the Nagasaki mission is that he gives credit to Sweeney for his performance under difficult circumstances. Others are less complimentary.

By the way, CAP stands for Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer civilian auxilliary arm of the US Air Force. Hessian Bob was a CAP pilot when he was in high school.

I had to look up 'docent.'

It's Easy to Forget

2006-12-07T09:39:00.000-05:00

Click here for a short retrospective of the Pacific War. The music is Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" performed by the Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces. The clip is the coda of my documentary, "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice." You can see the whole thing here.

Here's an aspect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor you may not have heard about: the importance of electronic intelligence and radio silence to the success of the operation.

A great "Outre Mer" review

2006-12-06T11:52:00.000-05:00

My novel "Outre Mer" just received a terrific review from reader and avid science-fiction aficionado David Masci, who gives it five stars out of five.

# # #

A Wonderful First Novel

Outre Mer is that rare science fiction novel that is able to speak to today's anxieties while painting a compelling and utterly believable picture of tomorrow. It's also a ripping good yarn, that moves quickly and builds in intensity without sacrificing nuance or detail. In short, Michael Puttre's first book is a stunning debut and a novel that deserves a wide and grateful audience.

The future Puttre presents in the book is completely grounded in reality. He avoids the pitfalls of so many science fiction novels, which have a tendency to ignore human nature as readily as they change the laws of physics. The characters that populate Outre Mer are real people: at times petty, at times noble, never one dimensional. Puttre imbues even secondary characters with a flesh and blood reality that makes them both interesting and worth caring about.

The story is complex, involving political intrigue and war, and is told largely through the eyes of a half dozen characters. But Puttre uses the events and people depicted in the novel to dig deeper, exploring issues such as the nature of faith and duty, the need to belong to something greater than oneself, and the extent of our responsibility to those we have dominion over. Thankfully, the author does not provide easy answers. Instead, we see characters grappling with tough decisions that involve compromising one set of principles to serve another. This tension makes the novel tremendously rewarding.

Finally, and amazingly for a first time author, Puttre has managed to get right the mechanics of fiction writing. His prose is clear and tight, avoiding overly colorful language while still giving us a steady stream of dazzling description and dialogue. His pacing is also exceptionally good. The story never lags or wanders off in unproductive directions. Overall, this is a wonderful book, one that I enjoyed tremendously and look forward to reading again.

# # #

The reviewer is a a senior research fellow at a Washington, DC, think-tank (I don't want to name it here because David isn't representing it in writing the review). His specialty is religion and public life. David has also read more science fiction novels than anyone else I am aware of, so I am truly grateful for his kind review.

Please have a look at "Outre Mer." You can preview and purchase it at Lulu.com. It is also available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

A Long-Suffering Fan

2006-12-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

I found this in my inbox this morning from a reader in Australia:

Hey Michael,

Well let's detail my life over the last few weeks
shall we?

1. Moved house.
2. House moved into burned down.
3. Moved house.
4. Lessor decided to sell house.
5. Moved house.
6. Shitty house - guess what?
7. Moved house.
8. Got Internet.
9. Read Outre Mer.

10. Want sequel. NOW!

Seriously Michael, I have no idea why you haven't been published. Your work is top notch. Have you tried submitting it at Baen? Anyways, just wanted you to know that I loved your book and would look forward to anything else in the series and would love to read it as a beta-reader if you will.

Now as to the part I didn't like. In the very beginning, the description of your "hyperspace" is a little forced. A smoother description here will help the flow of the
story.

Strengths:
Great characters; believable, deep, flawed but not stupidly so (ala Robert Jordan).
Coolest Alien race ever...well next to Star Trek's Jem Hadar, anyways.
Awesome plot twist [spoiler deleted].
Dialog is great.
In short: Really dude, get yourself an agent. You are as good a wordsmith as many people that are published and better than many others.

--B.C.

So, if this gentleman can enjoy "Outre Mer" after the year he's had, imagine how much you might enjoy it in the comfort of a home that isn't on fire or being overrun with zombies, or whatever?

Go here to preview "Outre Mer" on Lulu.com.

Go here to find "Outre Mer" on Amazon.com.

"Outre Mer" reviewed at Reader Views

2006-12-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

I'd like to kick of the month and the weekend with a nice review of my science-fiction novel, "Outre Mer." And so I will: I have excerpted a review by Debra Gaynor of Reader Views, cutting out one or two spoilers and fixing the spelling of my name. If you want to read the full review, go here:

# # #

Outre Mer
Michael Puttré
Lulu (2006)
ISBN 9781430300960

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (11/06)

Earth has reached the stars and began colonization and also destruction. A war was fought against the “Grey’s,” an evil alien race that has been capturing humans since the 1940’s. The war was won but the humans don’t quite trust the “Taken,” those that were abducted and returned.

The “Taken” have been quarantined on Outre Mer where the Duran live. Eventually some politicians decide that it was a bad idea and they plot to remove the “Taken” to another planet. But the “Taken” have no desire to leave. Humans attempt to isolate the “Taken” form the Durrani. They do not want the two races mixing. It is decided that all the “enlightened” Durrani must be exterminate but the Durrani that have not been exposed to the “Taken” may be allowed to live as long as they remain unenlightened. The main plot is the struggle for the “Taken” and the Durrani to remain free, but the plot has many twists and angles, there are many other paths for the reader to explore.

Janni, a Durrani, has been assimilated into modern society. He has a long furry tail, saucer eyes; he seemed to be all snout and teeth, he has been given a set of mechanical hands to wear on his paws. He thought the human face expressive. “There had been a time, early in his training, when Janni’s mannish colleagues invited him to play poker. He lost money for a while as he picked up the game. Then he learned how to read faces, and the invitations to live games stopped coming...”

The Durrani people are marked for destruction by a small group of politicians and operatives, each with their own agenda.

The characters are amazing. They have depth and are multifaceted; they are very real in that they are not totally good or totally bad. The author has made use of his background and offers his readers, technology and scientific descriptions.

Whether by coincidence or on purpose, Mr. Puttré; forces his readers to look deep in their soul for the prejudice hidden there. Perhaps once they come to light we will overcome them and learn to truly love our fellow man.

Mr. Puttré offers his readers a unique blend of sci-fi, romance, fantasy, political intrigue, and historical context. He leaves us with much to ponder. The cover entices the reader to enter in with a promise of adventure waiting. I recommend “Outre Mer” for those that enjoy science fiction, political intrigue, romance, space opera, fantasy and a really good book to curl up with.

# # #

You can preview and purchase "Outre Mer" at Lulu.com here.

Veterans Day / Bloody Tarawa

2006-11-09T01:42:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be traveling this weekend, so I thought I'd offer my Veterans Day post a little early.

Last year, I collected 11 stories of veterans of many countries in their own words.

In April and June 2006, I interviewed Leon Cooper, who was an ensign aboard the assault transport USS Harry Lee (a converted liner) and served as a boat officer on a Higgins boat during the Tarawa invasion. He told me his story, and I offer a recording of it here, in two parts (2 MP3 files).

This month is the 63rd anniversary of the Battle of Tarawa. The lack of a round number on the date doesn't mean the event isn't worth reflecting on. In November 20-23, 1943, US Marines, Sailors, and Airmen engaged in a fight that would provide the home front with its first bloody shock of WW II. More Americans were killed at Pearl Harbor, true, but that was due to enemy action and sparked outrage at the new enemy. At Tarawa, with the US on the attack against 4,000 entrenched Japanese defenders, more than 1,000 US servicemen were killed in less than three days. More than 2,000 more were wounded. Grieving American mothers were calling publically for Admiral Nimitz to be fired. History does not record what the Japanese mothers thought of their war leaders. The Japanese defenders died almost to a man. History has even less to say about the 1,000-plus Korean laborers killed on the island.

You'll want this map.

And here are some useful photos of the battlefield.

Leon Cooper is the author of "90 Day Wonder: A Darkness Remembered," a semi-autobiographical account of his experiences in the Pacific War. Here is a post about some of my impressions of his thoughts about Tarawa and the island-hopping campaign. I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions, but hey, he was there. I wasn't.

Over the course of the next few days I will add additional supporting links, so please check back.

"Outre Mer" reviewed at Bards And Sages

2006-11-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

My science-fiction novel "Outre Mer" received its first review at a third-party website. Julie Ann Dawson, editor of Bards and Sages, a site dedicated to speculative fiction (SF, horror, and fantasy) and role-playing games, gave it a thumbs up. Julie concludes:

Puttre’s characters are engaging and well developed. While technically this is a science fiction novel, the character-driven plot and personal interaction take center stage. Starships, intergalactic (sic) travel, high-tech sci-fi weaponry and gadgets…these things are all secondary to the characters that populate the story. Janni is simultaneously a hardened hero and an innocent bystander struggling with situations beyond his control.

Outre Mer is a polished, character-driven space opera with a serious message about the nature of humanity. A highly recommended read for fans of quality science fiction.

What's interesting is that Julie detected themes relating to the Crusader States of the Middle Ages, particularly with regard to the title. Outremer was a general name given to the Crusader States after the First Crusade. In using the term Outre Mer, I had in mind the notion of "overseas," as the French term their far-flung colonies and possessions. However, when I wrote the book, I tried very hard not to lecture the reader or even to tell him or her who to root for and identify with. I am very happy to see different readers coming away with different thoughts and views about the various characters and the actions they take.

You can read Julie's full review here.

You can preview and purchase "Outre Mer" here:

"Nagasaki" Wins an Alliance Award

2006-11-02T23:08:00.000-05:00

My wife just opened a letter and told me that I won first prize for my documantary, "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice." It turns out that my local public access cable station entered it in the "Non-Professional Documentary - Event" (as opposed to "Person") category of the 2006 Alliance for Community Media - North East (NY-New England) video awards.

There will be an awards ceremony on November 17 at the Fuller Craft Museum (www.fullercraft.org). Huh. I'm glad to have won, but it is going to be a strange evening. The last time I was at the Fuller Craft Museum was for a ceremony honoring its late curator, Jennifer Atkinson. Jennifer was my sister-in-law, once removed (sister-in-law of my brother-in-law). Jennifer was a beautiful, brilliant redhead who drove a sports car and brought the Fuller back to life. She died young of cancer in October 2003.

The subject of my documentary, Maj. Gen. Charles Sweeney, died in 2004. It's really about him and his crew. You can read an account of the Nagasaki mission in Sweeney's own words here.

You can see "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice" here for free on my website in bite-size pieces. Eventually I'm going to make it available on DVD through Lulu.com.

Fan Mail

2006-10-28T12:31:00.000-04:00

Since I don't get much fan mail, I feel justified in posting this from John Bybee, who just dug into my SF novel, "Outre Mer":

Ole buddy--this is great literature, who you gonna sell the movie rights to? The way you put your reader into the story and let your thought flow into word pictures and scenes. Reminds of the Henry G Felsen's STREET ROD and HOT ROD books I read as a kid. Granted you ain't talking 32' Fords on black top or gravel roads, but the intensity/interest of your story line lays rubber from Kansas to the stars.

Marten Fisher--Planet burner, Phalanx frigate, emerged into reality, eyes of the dragon, Ninth Circle--Lake of Ice. Ekaterina lying nude--"Then he left her." Reminds of Lt. Belenko who defected with the Mig 25 back in 1976.

This is a great read, your velocity is "gravity-breaking."

Links added.

That makes my rainy Saturday (although later I'm taking my little boy out to see "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D, so that ought to be cool, too). I don't know John except from correspondence. He's doing some interesting research into reported uses of anti-aircraft missiles and rockets by Germany in World War 2.

If I can appeal to the technically orientated niche historian and classic American car enthusiast market, I feel that I'm nearly home free.

I remember when the Foxbat pilot defected to Japan. I was twelve, and just lighting the afterburners on my military tech geekdom. If I remember correctly, there was a general sense that the MiG-25 wasn't quite the boogey man it had been made out to be, given that it's electronics were vacuum-tube based. Still, it was an impressive aircraft and a major event in the Cold War.

(Plus I give John extra points for knowing where the name of the frontier cruiser "Vermithrax" came from!)

You can preview and purchase "Outre Mer" by following the link:

Merkava Killers in Lebanon

2006-10-20T10:36:00.000-04:00

I had occasion to visit Israel as a guest of its ministry of defense in April 2001, in the run up to the Paris Air Show that July. The idea was for a group of defense journalists to spend a week visiting all of the key high-tech companies responsible for Israel's weapons systems, IAI Elta, IAI Malat, IMI, Tadiran, Elisra, Elbit, Raphael, and others. We also got to visit a number of interesting military installations, the Arrow ABM site and the 200 Squadron UAV unit outside of Tel Aviv, and the F-15I base in the Negev.

Coming into the country through Ben Gurion was a grueling process, however, and by the time most of our group had been processed I was still an hour or so in arrears. The upshot of this was that my escort, an IDF official, drove me to my hotel himself. It turns out that he was an armor officer, and was very enthusiastic about the Merkava main battle tank. Knowing that I was an American, he took care to say nice things about the Abrams. But the Merkava, he assured me, was the best tank in the world. It was conceived, designed, and built from the treads up to meet the specific requirements of the IDF. It fights in the desert. It fights in the streets.

It is interesting to note that Israel buys nearly all of its "platforms" from the US, notably its aircraft and vehicles. This is because the large amounts of military aid the US provides must be spent on US-supplied weapons systems. To these the Israelis typically integrate indigenous electronics and weapons systems of demonstrable high quality. Therefore it is significant that the only indigenously produced combat vehicle is the Merkava series of MBTs. Most anything other type of platform can be purchased from other suppliers (the subs come from Germany because the US doesn't make diesel electric attack boats) and customized with Israeli electronics. Even the ship hit by an C-802 missile in the recent war with Hezbollah was built by Northrop Grumman. But Israel considers its ability to produce MBTs to its own specifications to be a strategic necessity.

One of the most dangerous counters to the Merkava on the market today is the AT-14 Kornet anti-tank missile. Not only does the weapon have a tremendous two-stage warhead capable of penetrating the armor of the latest generation of MBTs, such as the Merkava and the Abrams, it employs a laser-beamrider guidance. The importance of the latter is that laser-warning receivers on tanks may not detect the laser energy of the missile system, because the beam is focused on a receiver on the tail assembly of the missile rather than the target. Think of a laser beamrider as receiving its guidance commands by laser rather than through a wire. Targeting information is collected by the launch crew by means of a passive electrooptical system and an auto tracker. A computer translates the tracking data into guidance commands sent automatically to the missile via the laser. This form of guidance is much more difficult for a laser-warning receiver to detect than laser-guided weapons whose seekers home on reflected laser energy from a spot held on the target. The only opportunity a tank crew has to receive warning of an impending launch of a laser-beamrider is when the missile crew briefly lases the tank for range, an activity that can be difficult for laser-warning receivers to detect.

Reports that laser-beamrider anti-tank missiles are turning up in southern Lebanon must be a source of intense concern to IDF officials. The weapons are apparently coming from Syria and Iran, who have purchased the systems in large numbers from an obliging Russia. It is likely that many of Israel's casualties and the unexpectedly large numbers of armored vehicles lost in operations against Hezbollah were due to the introduction of the Kornet. Certainly, the loss of Merkava tanks to Hezbollah militia must have come as a shock and a painful blow to the IDF, which has placed such faith in its homegrown MBT. I wonder how long it will be before Hamas also has access to such weapons?

Air Force Long

2006-10-14T16:10:00.000-04:00

I received this from a friend, who received it from another. The iconography on the side of the fuselage knocked me out.

For a full size photo, go here.

Here's the original caption:

A pic of the Global Hawk UAV that returned from the war zone on Monday under its own power. (Iraq to Edwards AFB in CA) - Not transported via C5 or C17. Notice the mission paintings on the fuselage. It's actually over 250 mission (and I would suppose 25 air medals). That's a long way for a remotely-piloted aircraft. Think of the technology (and the required quality of the data link to fly it remotely). Not only that but the pilot controlled it from a nice warm control panel at Edwards AFB. I worked on Global Hawk several years ago during it's OT&E out of Edwards. It has really long legs- can stay up for almost 2 days at altitudes above 60k. They flew it via satellite control to Australia, and we flew missions during OT&E that went from Eddy to upper Alaska and back non-stop.

Army Strong

2006-10-13T19:22:00.000-04:00

Hessian Bob (who was actually in the real Army in addition to being in several fake ones) tells me that the US Army has a new recruiting slogan. Apparently, "Army of One" wasn't cutting it. You can read about it and see a video here.

I'll watch this at home. I can't seem to get sound on my computer at work. Sight unseen, I'll say that I don't like the slogan: "Army Strong." It sounds like:

"Me Tarzan. Tarzan in Army. Army strong. Strong like Tarzan."

But I'll reserve jugement. Just pay the soldiers more. Soldiers should be paid at least as much as tradesmen like plumbers and electricians for the same levels of experience.

UPDATE: Okay, I watched the video and it's really pretty good. The imagery is effective, even moving. The score is stirring without going over the top. My only complaint is that constantly breaking away to show title cards to move the narrative along keeps taking me out of the experience.

Or as Butthead once scoffed while watching a video: "Words. If I wanted to read I'd go to school."

One of the most effective TV commercials out there right now is a great ad from Dow. (I know, I know, Napalm sticks to kids.) But this is a really beautiful spot called "The Human Element" with some striking, National Geographic-like video images set to a moving, Ken Burns-esque violin score. The narrative about the importance of the human element is sustained by a voiceover.

I like this much better. Now, of course the Army would want to strike a different tone than the Dow spot. But I think that the combination of imagery and music is so powerful that breaking it up with title cards reduces the impact. Have a voice, or a couple of voices tell us what Army Strong means to them as soldiers.

Also, I'm still not sold on "Army Strong" as a slogan. The context is: "There's strong (as defined by Webster's) and then there's Army Strong, as exemplified by the US Army." I don't know. Now it sort of sounds like a color-safe bleach.

My Science-Fiction Novel: "Outre Mer"

2006-09-30T01:41:00.000-04:00

Buy it exclusively at Lulu.com.
(If you do read it, please take 5 minutes and write a short review on the Lulu site. It makes a big difference. Thanks! --MP)

Some excerpts and background here.

Boilerplate:

"My name is Janni. I am a duranni, a native of Outre Mer. I have a mind. I believe that I have a soul. I am a person."

Born into Awakened society, Janni believes that people of all origins can live and work together. He does not understand why Earth sends its death squads into the forests of his homeland to hunt down educated duranni like him. Trained by his human worldmates, Janni leads a mission to rid Outre Mer of its jailors. Many on Earth are content to let Outre Mer go its own way. But a clique of policy makers and shadowy operatives goes beyond the pale to make sure that doesn't happen. An expeditionary force closes on Outre Mer, bringing fire...and worse.

Michael Puttré draws on his experience as an international aerospace, defense, and technology journalist to craft believable worlds in an age of starships. "Outre Mer" is a character-driven story of people on all sides of a conflict struggling to follow their orders, their convictions, and their instincts without always knowing why.

Nagasaki Controversy

2006-08-29T22:28:00.000-04:00

No, not the usual "should we have - shouldn't we have" nonsense (dispensed with here). A military historian who has done extensive research into the atomic bomb program and the conduct of the atomic missions over Japan contacted me with a bombshell of his own: The Nagasaki mission almost went south due to incompetence of command.

John Coster-Mullen, author of "Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man," emailed me in late August 2006 to compliment me on my documentary, "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice." He also had some interesting information about the late Charles Sweeney, commander of the mission, who apparently was not held in very high regard by some of his comrades at the 509th Composite Group, mostly due to the content and tone of Sweeney's book, War's End, published in 1997.

I'm not sure that I agree with the assessment. Not so much that things weren't a little rough on the way to the target. But in my book, if you get there, deliver your ordnance, and get your people back in one piece, then you've done your job. Examine any military operation, particularly those involving new and difficult equipment and tactics, and you are going to find many, many flaws.

But go here to have a look for yourself.

Deterrence?

2006-08-24T20:50:00.000-04:00

For some reason, modern states are not as deterrable as they once were. At least that's the conventional wisdom. I recall growing up in the 1970s and '80s with nuclear war, and all that that implies, being "out there." We could talk about first strike vs. massive retaliation, and launch-on-warning vs. ride-out-the-attack. It was in the conversation. We got Civil Defense manuals in grade school (I was too late for duck-and-cover drills), with diagrams of heat and blast damage in concentric circles from airbursts of various megatonnages. There were other diagrams of plume exposure patterns of fallout from ground bursts. I took a national security policy class at the University of Rochester that the students nicknamed, "Bombs and Rockets." It was damned interesting.

I remember one friend of mine in Winchester, Massachusetts. He lived next door and was two years older than me. One day, contrails criss-crossed the summer sky above in a way I had never seen before. My friend said they were Russian missiles. I believed him, of course. I was eight. Probably, they were US fighters from Hanscom and/or Otis flying exercises. I stood for hours, looking up, my mouth agape. In front of my house.

Russians. They could kill us all at any moment. Where we live.

Most people were content to leave it at the "balance of terror" or "mutually assured destruction" level, a la Twilight Zone and WarGames. One bomb and everybody dies, effectively. Makes for a fine morality play. But there were nuances for the nuclear cognoscenti to examine over late night beers, coffees, and cigarettes. Even later, I've had the opportunity to discuss nuclear strategy with former Warsaw Pact pilots trained and charged with penetrating Western Europe to deliver nuclear weapons. And I've spoken with Western pilots who were trained to go the other way. I even got to introduce two such former enemy pilots to each other, telling them that if the balloon ever went up they would probably have passed each other in flight. Handshakes and smiles.

So the current hubbub over Iran and North Korea is slightly perplexing to me. Sure, there is a worry that North Korea might be undeterrable. Perhaps. But Iran certainly is deterrable. They want to live. And they want to win. To do the latter, they have to do the former.

Iran is deterrable. They have things of value that others can put at risk. Iran says Israel should be wiped off the map. Israel could do that to Iran right now, if it chose. Iran is striving for its first nuclear weapon. The US has thousands. Am I missing something?

So, I'm asking: Whatever happened to deterrence?

Nagasaki Anniversary

2006-08-08T09:47:00.000-04:00

August 9, 1945

Read about the mission here.

Watch and hear about the mission here, in the commander's voice.

And if you care to, hit the Paypal tip jar after. I thank you.

--MP

Nagasaki Revised

2006-07-29T23:26:00.000-04:00

I've changed the file format of my "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice" video presentation to a decent resolution version of wmv for Windows Media Player.

The late General Charles Sweeney told me about the details of the Nagasaki mission he led over lunch. I recorded the conversation. Granted, I had a bad microphone. And it was originally for a print article.

But the movie I made about it received a Bronze Telly Award. I invite you to have a look.

One Happy Ending

2006-07-27T17:36:00.000-04:00

It's a small story.

Here's how it started.

But it ended well, and I'm glad.

C-802 Missile Likely Shore Launched

2006-07-16T10:37:00.000-04:00

Rumors persist that a UAV was used in some capacity to launch the missiles that struck an Israeli missile corvette and sank an Egyptian merchantman last Friday. While there is some possibility that Hezbollah used a UAV for observation and reconnaissance, there is no possibility that the C-802 antiship missile credited as the weapon employed was launched from a UAV.

Here is the entry on the C-802 antiship missile from the International Electronic Countermeasures Handbook, 2004 Edition (published by Horizon House, edited by me):

C-801, C-802 (NATO: CSS-N-4-Sardine)
A medium-range, ship-launched antiship missile, the C-801 first became operational in the mid1980s. It has been fitted to various types of warships, from fast-attack craft to destroyers. It is also available in sub-, air-, and mobile-ground-launched versions...

Guidance is by inertial navigation for the midcourse stage, followed by an active radar seeker for the terminal phase. The target is acquired by a search radar, normally the Type 245 version of the Russian MR-331 Rangout (Square Tie) I-band radar, which has a range of 130 km. The Luhu and Luda III destroyer classes use the Thales E/F-band Sea Tiger as the main search radar...

After launch, the missile climbs to about 50 m, descends to approach the target, and finally descends to about 5 m as the radar seeker locks on to the target until impact and detonation of the semi-armor-piercing warhead. The range of the missile is 42 km.

Iran reportedly produces C-801 missiles carrying the indigenous designation Tondar. The C-802 coastal-defense version, which has a small turbojet engine in place of the original solid rocket engine, has a range of about 120 km.

Warhead: 165-kg semi-armor piercing
Range: 42 km (C-801); 120 km (C-802)
Speed: High subsonic
Length: 581 cm
Body Diameter: 36 cm
Wingspan: 118 cm
Launch Weight: 815 kg (including booster)
Users: China, Iran, Thailand

There is no UAV platform currently deployed that could carry this missile. Note that the launch weight of 815 kg is more than 15 times that of the US Hellfire antitank missile, which is a common UAV-launched missile carried by the largish Predator series, which has a payload of 204 kg. The severe damage inflicted on the Israeli missile corvette and the sinking of the Egyptian merchantman (apparently incidentally) in the same attack indicates that the missiles used were large, antiship types, not antitank missiles.

If Hezbollah -- with Iranian assistance -- employed this missile to attack the Israeli ship, then they fired it from a truck-mounted launcher cued by a coastal radar installation. This is why Israel has stepped up its attacks against coastal radar sites, as any sort of surface-search set would be able to provide data for the initial launch. After launch, the missile takes care of itself with its own inertial guidance system and onboard radar seeker. Since the launchers are mobile, the trucks carrying them could scoot after firing. And we all know how notoriously difficult it can be to locate mobile units, even when you have lots of reconnaissance assets.

Reports on the internet dismissing the possibility that Israel could have been caught off guard by a radar-guided antiship missile fail to take into account the element of surprise. Israeli air and naval units are indeed well supplied with electronic warfare systems that can detect and then counter radar-guided threats. Electronic warfare is an Israeli specialty. However, electronic-warfare suites are not as automatic as commonly supposed. Plus, in a war zone, there are a many signals that have to be analyzed and classified. Moreover, the coastal radars would be able to acquire targetable launch data using a mundane surface-search mode, as might be expected from navigation radars in the vicinity of a port. This would not necessarily arouse the suspicions of a blockading ship that is not alerted to the possibility of an antiship missile attack.

Forewarned is forearmed, and if the Israelis were not expecting to be attacked by an antiship missile, then they could very easily have been taken by surprise. After all, it's happened before. And there is some irony that the class of Israeli ship hit by the missile is the Eliat class (alternate spelling, Eilat).

Remember the Eliat?

We were equipped with a relatively capable and sophisticated ELINT system for its time, the tunable microwave APR-9 receiver of Korean War vintage. Using the system, we had seen an increased level of high PRF radar signals, which usually meant military rather than commercial applications, and increased activity. But the Styx was one of the first of the easy to employ fire-and-forget surface-to-surface missiles and its onboard targeting radar did not turn on until it was in mid-course to its target. That gave us less than a minute and a half to react. We probably had been painted by surveillance radars, but there were so many radars operating in the region of the Suez Canal, we were not aware of any particularly hostile ones.

Hezbollah Employs Anti-Ship Missile

2006-07-15T07:57:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: Original reports said the the weapon employed was a UAV. Later reports say the weapon was a Chinese-designed, Iranian-supplied C-802 anti-ship cruise missile.

DefenseTech reports that the Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah has hit an Israeli missile corvette with an Iranian-supplied UAV equipped with a warhead.

UAVs are difficult targets. They have small radar cross sections and are surprisingly quiet and difficult to spot visually at even moderate altitudes. More importently, they can, in effect, be made into cruise missiles, which is apparently what Hezbollah has done.

As John Pike of Global Security said, it doesn't take "rocket science to put explosives on the thing and then use the TV camera to home in on the ship." However, it does require some imagination. And failure of imagination is one of the most basic of military blunders.

The Israelis have learned another lesson about underestimating their foe. It is a lesson that the US should consider in its standoff with Iran, as Iran was almost certainly the source of the equipment, expertise, and imagination. US ships in the Persian Gulf are as vulnerable as Israeli ones standing off the coast of Lebanon.

UPDATE: Maybe there's some rocket science after all. There are reports that Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon assisting Hezbollah with their UAVs, and that the systems are radar guided:

A senior Israeli intelligence official said Iranian troops helped Hezbollah fire a missile that damaged an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast Friday night.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said about 100 Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon and helped fire the Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102 at the ship that killed one and left three missing.

Damn. Still, it's not the first time the Israeli navy has been caught napping. In October 1967, destroyer Eliat was sunk by a radar-guided Styx missile with a loss of 47 of her crew. Here is an eyewitness account of the event.

Global = Local

2006-07-13T18:28:00.000-04:00

A small side story in the Israel-Hezbollah War.

So We've Won After All.

2006-06-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

So Winston Churchill was quoted to have said upon hearing news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese, the Axis ally of his dedicated foe, Nazi Germany. The act, while creating short-term havoc for his friends and glory for his enemies, ultimately sounded the death knell of the Axis because Captain America could swing into action unencumbered by the flotsom of international law.

Hamas, the political party in power of the Palestinian Provisional Authority, the party that just won an election for which it campaigned and so now is legally in charge, kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Silly, silly, Hamas.

So Israel will exist after all.

Excellent.

I'm sorry for Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, and I want him to get home. Kill all the power, water, and work until he does.

The Palestinians should have a state. Don't worry about historical borders. These have always been meaningless. Just look at Germany. Deal with it.

So Sadly Alone

2006-06-22T12:02:00.000-04:00

It would be foolish for North Korea to doubt the seriousness of the US when it comes to its ICBM program. The Pentagon has already spent more money on a missile-defense system designed specifically to intercept a ballistic-missile attack from North Korea than it would have taken to buy them a light-water nuclear reactor. If I may quote a previous post on Situational Awareness:

Since 1985, about $90 billion has been spent on missile defense by the US under various programs, beginning with the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) through the Clinton administration's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and into today's Missile Defense Agency. But funding since fiscal year 2001, at $4.8 billion, has been stepped up quite a bit, with $7.8 billion in FY02, $7.4 billion in FY03, $7.7 billion in FY04, and $9 billion in FY05. Missile defense accounts for about 2% of the Defense Department budget, more than any other program.

Since the mid-1990s, US defense planners have seen an "urgent need" for a missile defense system to defend against an end-game ICBM launch from North Korea. With surprisingly little fanfare, considering, the US has deployed this capability with a fast-track program using prototype systems and minimum testing. This is a high-risk, high-cost approach to any military program, not to mention one that requires the flawless execution of a long and complex sequence of events in order to be successful. But there it is.

The other day I was sort of joking about how "cool" it would be for the US to use the occasion of a North Korean test launch to try out our Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system (see previous post). However, the US does not consider this to be a laughing matter. There are voices calling for a preemptive attack on the North Korean launch site in order to make sure the test launch does not occur. This is not mere belicosity. Preventing a launch would deny the North Koreans the knowledge of whether their prototype Taepo Dong-II missile design works or not. Denying the North Koreans this knowledge would increase the uncertainty in the minds of those who might contemplate an end-game missile attack on the US. As I said before, lashing out with unproven systems is much more risky than striking with proven ones.

While a US preemptive strike on North Korea's ICBM prototype certainly would have negative repercussions, consider the US investment in its missile defense program proof that stopping a test launch has the highest priority. Right now, US officials are stressing diplomacy. But the bombers are standing by.

UPDATE: Really. It's a big deal.

UPDATE 2: No, really...

Only in Novels

2006-06-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

The North Koreans have been posturing about testing a new ICBM, probably the reported Taepo Dong II or Taepo Dong-X prototype. The US has been posturing for them not to try it. Now, there is a report about how if the North Koreans actually do fire the thing off, we might use the opportunity to shoot it down with the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system that is being made operational incrementally. Background on that, here. (Please forgive the broken eDefense links. Can't be helped.)

Now, there are all sorts of reasons not to take a shot at the North Korean ICBM: chief among these is the embarrassment of failure. But come on, sometimes you just have to take a shot. If only for the theatrical beauty of the act.

The funny thing is, North Korea's erratic testing regime with regard to its ballistic missile capability is the sort of activity that prompted accelerated deployment of the GMD to begin with. The US missile defense system, based primarily around interceptor missiles based in Alaska with attending radar and command and control systems, could not defeat any sort of determined attack by China, let alone Russia. However, US defense industry officials have expressed confidence that the GMD, as currently configured, could indeed defeat a one-off, two-off attack from North Korea. And, indeed, it is the expectation that an attack would be launched as the regime collapsed, or in some other obscure and undeterable circumstance, that is the GMD's reason d'etre.

Is the North Korean test launch, if it happens, likely to be a sneak attack? Hardly. Neither the missile nor its payload have been tested. And the North Koreans haven't sounded erratic enough to be ready to go out on such a potential train-wreck of prototypes. So there's every reason to just sit back and watch the launch fail or succeed.

But it would be cool to take the shoot, wouldn't it?

Nagasaki Reposted

2006-06-15T15:43:00.000-04:00

Now that eDefense Online is defunct, I have posted my documentary, "Nagasaki: The Commander's Voice" over on my website here. I split it into eleven files MPEG-4 (DiviX) AVI format. File sizes range from 5.5 to 18.5 MB. If there's enough interest I may have copies produced in DVD format.

Some background on the project here.