Israel Matzav

Hezbullah's rockets

I want to remind you all of a post I did two months ago, regarding the range of Hezbullah's rockets. What we have seen until now have been Katyusha's and Fajr's, but Hezbullah has longer range rockets that we know about but have not seen yet (bli ayin hara - warding off evil eyes):

HaAretz reported two months ago that Hezbullah has rockets called the Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2. Here's what I reported about it at the time:

According to HaAretz:

The solid-fuel rockets lack an independent guidance system and their accuracy is questionable but they can still cause considerable damage.

According to intelligence estimates, the rockets are meant to strike non-specific areas, such as towns and cities, and carry a warhead estimated to weigh 600 kilograms. This latest development doubles the range of weapons previously in Hezbollah's arsenal.

600 Kilos is a huge warhead. For those of you who think in pounds, that's more than 1300 pounds. That's the size of a good car. That's a huge warhead.

The rockets delivered to the Hezbollah have appeared under different names. One is Zelzal-2, and its earlier model is the Zelzal-1. Another Iranian name for the rocket is Nazeat.

The rocket was first seen in a military parade in Tehran in September 2005, the first such event following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.

...

In 1996, Iran tested the Zelzal-2 and then put the missile system up for sale. The Zelzal-2 is 8.32 m in length and 0.61 m in diameter, with a launch weight of 3,400 kg. It carries its 600 kg warhead to a maximum range of 200 km (124 miles).

The Fajr-3, which Hezbullah has been using over the weekend, has a range of 45 kilometers.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:17 PM