Israel Matzav

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Video: C-704 missiles

You may recall that ten days ago, the IDF boarded the Victoria and towed it into port in Ashdod. The Victoria had many weapons on board, including Chinese-origin C704 land-to-sea missiles.

The IDF has released a video showing some of those missiles' capabilities.

Let's go to the videotape.

We are fortunate that they were caught.

Labels: C-704 missiles, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Victoria

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Victoria's secrets

Here's the Deputy Commander of Israel's Navy discussing what was found on the Victoria on Tuesday.

Let's go to the videotape.

From an initial investigation, strategic weapons were found on-board the “Victoria”–many 60 and 120 mm mortar shells, and C-704 anti-ship missiles. The C-704 shore-to-sea missiles had a range of 35 kilometers and its likely use along the Gaza Strip endangers not only infrastructure near the Gaza sea, but Israeli shore cities in close proximity such as Ashkelon.

Iran is known to possess these type of missiles, which, along with identifying documents (including a missile identification document, below) gives substantial evidence of Iran’s involvement in the weapons smuggling attempt, and yet another example of Iran’s use of innocent merchant ships as a means of transferring arms to terrorist organizations.

The IDF spokesperson reported on Tuesday night that the ship was carrying 50 tons of weapons - about the equivalent of the Karin A, which was caught bringing weapons from Iran to the 'Palestinian Authority' in 2002.

The Victoria carried as many as 50 tons of weapons, an amount similar to that of the Karin A, a ship caught by the IDF sailing to the Palestinian Authority in 2002. According to the Israeli Navy, this is only a preliminary estimate and weaponry found on the ship will be checked only after the Victoria docks at the Ashdod port. As mentioned, along with the strategic weapons found on the ship, a large amount of 60 and 120 mm mortar shells were found as well.

...

Catching Victoria emphasizes the importance of the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip. “There is huge potential in smuggling weapons by sea, both in because of the simplicity of route and the large quantities it enables to smuggle. If we allow free entry of ships into the Gaza Strip, weapons will come in droves to terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip,” added the Chief of the Navy.

As far as international law, he says the IDF is operating completely in accordance with the rules . “From the first step of questioning and gathering the facts to the interception itself, there was complete cooperation with the captain, allowing Naval Commandos to reach the ship using the ship’s ladders. The ship did not know about the cargo and was surprised by it. We believe Turkey and Egypt were as well.”

Here's a preliminary list of the weapons found on the ship.

Below is a preliminary list of weaponry and weaponry systems discovered and unloaded this morning at the Ashdod Port hidden in the cargo of the “Victoria” vessel.
230 mortar shells, 120 mm
2,270 mortar shells, 60 mm
6 C-704 anti-ship missiles
2 radar systems manufactured in England
2 launchers
2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system
66,960 bullets for the Kalashnikov, 7.62 millimeter

Hmmm.

The media was actually invited to Ashdod to view the weapons (I was invited too but could not make it), but you may not see it in your local media.

Let's go to the videotape.

And here's what you just saw in the video.

Angry foreign reporters left a press conference on Wednesday which displayed the weapons aboard the Victoria.

The event was meant to show foreigners the successes of the Israeli commandos and to justify the naval blockade on Gaza, but the extensive security checks at the entrance led many reporters to leave.

Each member of the foreign media was subject to a full-body check, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both spoke at the press conference.

"We were told to get here at 12," Jerusalem Post video reporter Ben Spier explained, "and we waited about an hour and a half in the sun. A lot of foreign journalists decided to walk away," he explained.

Many reporters found that by the time security checks ended, the conference had already started.

Unfortunately, those kinds of checks are unavoidable, unless Barak and Netanyahu are told to stay home.

Hmmm.

Labels: Ashdod port, C-704 missiles, foreign media, hasbara, Victoria, weapons shipment

Israel's war with Iran

Yaakov Katz explains what the IDF meant when they told us on Tuesday that the quality of the weapons on the Victoria was of deep concern.

After contacting the captain of the ship by radio, the commandos climbed aboard and, encountering no resistance, began a brief search of the cargo. They went to the “suspicious” containers, the ones that were loaded at the Syrian port of Latakia and were slated to be unloaded at the Egyptian port of Alexandria, according to the cargo manifest.

The commandos found the containers fitted with heavy locks, unusual for shipments of lentils and cotton. Behind a row of sacks, they found what they were looking for: crates of mortar shells, and then the real prize – the C-704 anti-ship missiles [pictured].

The seizure of the Victoria was not impressive for the quantity of arms found – the Francop cargo ship captured by Israel in late 2009 was carrying 10 times more weaponry – but for the quality.

The C-704 is an anti-ship missile made in China and used by Iran, which calls it the Nasr. Like surface-to-air missiles, the C-704 is the type of weapon that Israel fears could shift the balance of power in the region and undermine its operational freedom.

But while the discovery is impressive and was the result of major intelligence and operational efforts, it is just another chapter in the larger covert war that Israel is waging against Iran and its terror proxies throughout the Middle East, and joins a long list of similar special operations that have taken place in recent years.

The battle against Iranian arms shipments to Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas is extremely complicated and involves unprecedented coordination between Israel and its allies, primarily the United States.

Israel boards dozens of ships annually, and hundreds more are questioned by radio at sea. In the case of the Victoria, Israel had intelligence that the ship might be carrying weaponry, but there is never certainty until the ship is boarded and the weapons are found. One senior official described the mood in the navy command center as being so tense that a knife could have cut through the air.

For Iran and Hamas, the seizure of the Victoria is a major blow. But it will not stop Iran from trying other ways to get advanced weaponry to its proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. In many cases, Iran has succeeded.

In 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, Hamas did not have rockets that could hit Tel Aviv. Today it does.

Read the whole thing.

The C-704 is also known as a Silkworm missile. A similar missile - the C-802 - hit and severely damaged an Israeli submarine enforcing a blockade on Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. A the time, the Iranians had to operate the missiles. But Hamas has apparently learned how to do so itself.

With the C-704, Hamas would be able to attack Israeli vessels trying to prevent weapons ships from reaching Gaza. That's why the IDF regarded it as a game changer.

Labels: anti-ship missiles, C-704 missiles, Hamas, Iran, silkworm, weapons shipment

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Video and photos of Israel Navy boarding Victoria arms ship and more

I have some video and photos of the Israeli Navy boarding the Victoria arms ship some 200 miles off our coast earlier on Tuesday. In this first video, the IDF calls on the ship to allow the Navy to board.

Let's go to the videotape.

Compare that to what happened last May when the Navy told the Mavi Marmara to stop.

Let's go to the videotape.

I am convinced that the reason the Victoria reacted the way it did was the deterrent effect resulting from what happened with the Mavi Marmara last year. As much as the 'international community' may consider that operation 'botched,' no IDF soldiers were killed, and the ships were not allowed to pass through to Gaza. That created a deterrent effect, and there are lessons there of far more general applicability.

Here's video of the Navy ships heading toward the Victoria. The video appears to have been shot from a helicopter, so apparently there was one or more helicopters involved this time as well.

Let's go to the videotape.

Note that there are no terrorists or purported civilians (apparently) aboard this boat. No one milling around the deck waiting to attack IDF soldiers who land on the deck. Things may be different in May when many countries are planning to send another flotilla of fools to Gaza.

As I'm writing this post, Israel television is reporting that the boarding took place at 9:20. The ship carried 60 and 120mm shells. They also had C-704 land-to-sea missiles, of the type that was used against the Navy in Lebanon five years ago. There is also apparently other advanced weaponry aboard the ship. The weapons were hidden within a general commercial shipment and would have disturbed the equilibrium between the IDF and the 'Palestinians.'

Defense Minister Barak says that the raid proves the utility of the sea closure around Gaza. The crew knew nothing about what they were carrying. The ship will reach port in Ashdod after midnight and will be unloaded in the morning on Wednesday. It's a huge ship - 22,000 tons.

The IDF hopes this will close down this lane for the time being while the terror groups figure out how they were discovered.

Here's the boarding. Let's go to the videotape.

Israel Television is now discussing the possibility that the Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal brought these weapons, and the possibility that the new government of Egypt will allow weapons to pass through Alexandria and be shipped by land to Gaza.

Israel is blaming Iran for Tuesday's ship, but the loading was in Syria.

By the way, there were demonstrations in Syria on Tuesday against the Assad government. More on that later.

By the way, the containers were marked as containing cotton and wood, and Israel television says unequivocally that the weapons that were on this ship are not currently found in Gaza. We will find out more about them Wednesday morning.

Labels: C-704 missiles, Victoria, weapons shipment, weapons smuggling