Israel broadcasts secret weapons test by mistake

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-11-07 05:55pm

Oh Shit

Israel broadcasts secret weapons test by mistake

Thu Nov 6, 3:28 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Live from Israel: A secret long-range artillery test broadcast by mistake across the Middle East on an open satellite television channel.

Israel's Channel 10 television captured an unencrypted live feed from one weapons-testing control room to another that was bounced off Israel's Amos communications satellite this week.

The channel broadcast an edited version to viewers on its main evening news programme on Wednesday that showed technicians watching the launch and monitoring data-filled computer screens.

At one point, the camera showed two Israeli generals, including the deputy chief of staff, looking on.

"It was a serious lapse that should not have occurred," Yuval Shteinitz, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and security committee, told Israel Radio on Thursday.

"Luckily, this mishap...did not involve highly classified systems or tests," he said about the Israel Aircraft Industries' launch of what it described in a statement as a long-range artillery shell.

Israel's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said the weapon was designed to hit targets 50 km (30 miles) away.

A Channel 10 technician, conducting what the station said was a routine scan of the Amos satellite's frequencies, monitored the feed with a small dish of the type used by home subscribers.

Israeli media reports said the satellite's "footprint" covers an area stretching from Iran to Libya.

Shteinitz said his committee would investigate the incident.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-11-07 06:06pm

50 kilometers? This is hardly a horrible turn of events, Thailand has developed and fielded longer ranged gun and shell combo's, so have several other nations.

Bill Door · Post by **Bill Door** » 2003-11-07 08:36pm

Whoops?
Looks like someone will be in some very hot water

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-11-07 08:51pm

I hear WW2 artillery could hit targets over hundreds of miles away. Or at least over a hundred miles.

So it's not too bad for the Israelis.

Bill Door · Post by **Bill Door** » 2003-11-07 08:59pm

Shinova wrote:I hear WW2 artillery could hit targets over hundreds of miles away. Or at least over a hundred miles.

So it's not too bad for the Israelis.

Yep, but a security breach is a security breach. It reflects badly on the whole setup.
What if that had been a top secret project? Maybe to do with WMD? Then heads really would roll...

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-11-07 09:11pm

Paris Gun French Site But Have Fun Translating It

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-11-07 10:31pm

Montcalm wrote:Paris Gun French Site But Have Fun Translating It

that´s the "Dicke Bertha" named after bertha krupp, the wife of the manufacturer from krupp stahl.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-11-07 10:53pm

salm wrote:
Montcalm wrote:Paris Gun French Site But Have Fun Translating It
that´s the "Dicke Bertha" named after bertha krupp, the wife of the manufacturer from krupp stahl.

Actualy this is Dicke Bertha

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-08 12:03am

Googlefied

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-11-08 02:38am

Shinova wrote:I hear WW2 artillery could hit targets over hundreds of miles away. Or at least over a hundred miles.

Erm....

No. Even battleship cannons and Dora were limited to perhaps about 40km and 25km, respectively. Well under 100mi, in any case.

Sharp-kun · Post by **Sharp-kun** » 2003-11-08 07:02am

I laughed when I read that

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-11-08 12:46pm

Shinova wrote:I hear WW2 artillery could hit targets over hundreds of miles away. Or at least over a hundred miles.

There was exactly one gun that saw service in WW2 with a range of over 100 miles, the German 21cm K12(E) and it could easily miss a small city. The Paris gun, which could only reach 76 miles, missed the city of Paris with nearly half its shots.

Anyway, the K12(E) was a railway gun weighing about 300 tons, while the Paris gun had to be assembled on a fixed mounting and weighed 738 tons. The kind of thing Israel would be testing is an 155mm shell, one that would be fired from something weighing in the tens of tons.

No. Even battleship cannons and Dora were limited to perhaps about 40km and 25km, respectively. Well under 100mi, in any case.

More like 47km for Dora.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-11-08 01:55pm

Dora was a siege gun designed to lob huge shells at French fortifications; it wasn't a long-range bombardment gun like these other leviathans anyway.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-11-08 02:01pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
No. Even battleship cannons and Dora were limited to perhaps about 40km and 25km, respectively. Well under 100mi, in any case.
More like 47km for Dora.

Yeah, I know. The first site I found suggested 25km. I found others later that said 40km plus, but I couldn't very well edit my post.