Taiwanese Dam Strike Old News...

The US had and still has contingency plans for Taiwan to covertly
attack the Three Gorges Dam in the event of a Chinese amphibious
invasion of the island.
Taiwanese F-16s flying low laden with what was called a few years back
the "Dragon's Claw" bomb would be aided by US air assets and
Intelligence on the dam. Simultaneously, covert US forces would
disrupt the air defenses around the dam while the F-16s dropped their
special depth strikers, designed to be launched near the dam and to
plow under to a certain depth before exploding causing a series of
massive shock waves that would crack the foundations of the dam. The
F-16s would fire and turn away being refuelled by US tankers for the
return trip home.
This is old news... but it was never disclosed what exactly a depth
striker was.
I don't think you need the old bouncing bombs of WW2 (of which Germany
also had a rocket version of their own- Kurt). But a missile-launched
heavyweight torpedo with modified warhead might do the job well
(similar to the WW2 German L-10 or L-11 torpedo gliders).

Rob

On 23 Jun 2004 01:27:23 -0700, (robert arndt) wrote:

The US had and still has contingency plans for Taiwan to covertly
attack the Three Gorges Dam in the event of a Chinese amphibious
invasion of the island.
Taiwanese F-16s flying low laden with what was called a few years back
the "Dragon's Claw" bomb would be aided by US air assets and
Intelligence on the dam. Simultaneously, covert US forces would
disrupt the air defenses around the dam while the F-16s dropped their
special depth strikers, designed to be launched near the dam and to
plow under to a certain depth before exploding causing a series of
massive shock waves that would crack the foundations of the dam. The
F-16s would fire and turn away being refuelled by US tankers for the
return trip home.
This is old news... but it was never disclosed what exactly a depth
striker was.
I don't think you need the old bouncing bombs of WW2 (of which Germany
also had a rocket version of their own- Kurt). But a missile-launched
heavyweight torpedo with modified warhead might do the job well
(similar to the WW2 German L-10 or L-11 torpedo gliders).

Rob

"What an ultra-marron", as Mr. Bugs would say.

Al Minyard

From: Alan Minyard
Date: 6/23/2004 10:19 AM Central Daylight Time
Message-id:

On 23 Jun 2004 01:27:23 -0700, (robert arndt) wrote:

The US had and still has contingency plans for Taiwan to covertly
attack the Three Gorges Dam in the event of a Chinese amphibious
invasion of the island.
Taiwanese F-16s flying low laden with what was called a few years back
the "Dragon's Claw" bomb would be aided by US air assets and
Intelligence on the dam. Simultaneously, covert US forces would
disrupt the air defenses around the dam while the F-16s dropped their
special depth strikers, designed to be launched near the dam and to
plow under to a certain depth before exploding causing a series of
massive shock waves that would crack the foundations of the dam. The
F-16s would fire and turn away being refuelled by US tankers for the
return trip home.
This is old news... but it was never disclosed what exactly a depth
striker was.
I don't think you need the old bouncing bombs of WW2 (of which Germany
also had a rocket version of their own- Kurt). But a missile-launched
heavyweight torpedo with modified warhead might do the job well
(similar to the WW2 German L-10 or L-11 torpedo gliders).

Rob

"What an ultra-marron", as Mr. Bugs would say.

Al Minyard

How freudian Maron has been quiet, let's hope he stays that way. Bugs used
the term "maroon."

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"robert arndt" wrote in message
om...
The US had and still has contingency plans for Taiwan to covertly
attack the Three Gorges Dam in the event of a Chinese amphibious
invasion of the island.
Taiwanese F-16s flying low laden with what was called a few years
back
the "Dragon's Claw" bomb would be aided by US air assets and
Intelligence on the dam. Simultaneously, covert US forces would
disrupt the air defenses around the dam while the F-16s dropped
their
special depth strikers, designed to be launched near the dam and to
plow under to a certain depth before exploding causing a series of
massive shock waves that would crack the foundations of the dam. The
F-16s would fire and turn away being refuelled by US tankers for the
return trip home.
This is old news... but it was never disclosed what exactly a depth
striker was.
I don't think you need the old bouncing bombs of WW2 (of which
Germany
also had a rocket version of their own- Kurt). But a
missile-launched
heavyweight torpedo with modified warhead might do the job well
(similar to the WW2 German L-10 or L-11 torpedo gliders).

Rob


The reason for the 'bouncing bomb' was surely that it was the ony way
that a large charge could be placed accurately.

There are at least half a dozen different guidence methods in service
in various types of missile that can achieve 1 meter accuracy.
Maverick, Martel, the old Condor, Raptor, SLAMER differential GPS, TV
with or without man in the loop etc. All that is needed is to 'super
size' them. An extraction of a MOAB sized weapon from a C130 being
one option.

One advanced version of SCUD has a TV guidence system to reduce the
accruacy to well below 50 meters. (Using a trident missile for this
sort of business with a penetrating warhead is another option)

In WW2 apart from the fact that the carrier aircraft were impossibly
vulnerable the Germans could have carried out such attacks with
Fritz-X from around 1943 onwards and the Americans with AZON/RAZON.
The Kehl-Strassbourg guidence system was compromised after the capture
of some missiles in Italy but variations of the guidence system to
restore immunity were also possible and plans existed to use the
missile on the 2 seat 4 engined version of the Arado 234C jet bomber
and thus the Germans would have had a delivery vehicle for such a
weapon.. The Fritz-X was a little small: being half the mass of
highball.

AZON's main use seems to have been attacks against railway lines in
the far east in a role it was highly effective. (23% hit rate).
This CLOS type of guidence could have placed a bomb behined a damwall.

"Eunometic" wrote in message
...


snip more of Arndt's unsupported fantasies


The reason for the 'bouncing bomb' was surely that it was the ony way
that a large charge could be placed accurately.

There are at least half a dozen different guidence methods in service
in various types of missile that can achieve 1 meter accuracy.
Maverick, Martel, the old Condor, Raptor, SLAMER differential GPS, TV
with or without man in the loop etc. All that is needed is to 'super
size' them. An extraction of a MOAB sized weapon from a C130 being
one option.

A C-130 penetrating 1400 miles of PRC airspace and delivering a MOAB, huh?
Get a grip. And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of time
and some post-processing?


One advanced version of SCUD has a TV guidence system to reduce the
accruacy to well below 50 meters. (Using a trident missile for this
sort of business with a penetrating warhead is another option)

Taiwan has neither Scuds not Tridents. Scud lacks enough of a warhead, too.


In WW2 apart from the fact that the carrier aircraft were impossibly
vulnerable

And a C-130 lumbering through PLA and PLAAF defended territory would not
be?!

Brooks

the Germans could have carried out such attacks with
Fritz-X from around 1943 onwards and the Americans with AZON/RAZON.
The Kehl-Strassbourg guidence system was compromised after the capture
of some missiles in Italy but variations of the guidence system to
restore immunity were also possible and plans existed to use the
missile on the 2 seat 4 engined version of the Arado 234C jet bomber
and thus the Germans would have had a delivery vehicle for such a
weapon.. The Fritz-X was a little small: being half the mass of
highball.

AZON's main use seems to have been attacks against railway lines in
the far east in a role it was highly effective. (23% hit rate).
This CLOS type of guidence could have placed a bomb behined a damwall.

In article ,
on Wed, 23 Jun 2004 22:27:37 -0400,
Kevin Brooks attempted to say .....


And a C-130 lumbering through PLA and PLAAF defended territory would not
be?!

Shh, you will give away the secret that a C130 is an even better dogfighter
than the P-3C


--
When dealing with propaganda terminology one sometimes always speaks in
variable absolutes. This is not to be mistaken for an unbiased slant.

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...

"Eunometic" wrote in message
...


snip more of Arndt's unsupported fantasies


The reason for the 'bouncing bomb' was surely that it was the ony way
that a large charge could be placed accurately.

There are at least half a dozen different guidence methods in service
in various types of missile that can achieve 1 meter accuracy.
Maverick, Martel, the old Condor, Raptor, SLAMER differential GPS, TV
with or without man in the loop etc. All that is needed is to 'super
size' them. An extraction of a MOAB sized weapon from a C130 being
one option.

A C-130 penetrating 1400 miles of PRC airspace and delivering a MOAB, huh?
Get a grip. And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of
time
and some post-processing?

All the DGPS processing is easily handled in a hand held unit, real time.
The problem being you need the well surveyed differential station(s) in
the area up and broadcasting the difference between where the GPS and
the survey say they are..
The latest version, WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), has all the
user data coming from the sat. However, a precisely located ground
station has to send the correction data up. The theory being if the ground
station and the user are looking though the same atmospherics the
correction factors are the same.
I'm not *real* well read in it but it looks like in practice that the
correction factors generated in Taiwan would significantly improve
accuracy at 3GD.

Taiwan is a nuclear stand-by nation capable of producing a nuclear
weapon in one year. Since China is approx. 2-4 years away from
invading the island according to the latest 2004 Intels then Taiwan
should get the green light from the US and start making them in
preparation for the inevitable attack.
China keeps insisting on taking the island by force, even threatening
neutron weapons now... so let Taiwan produce nukes.
Doesn't make much difference though when a carrier battle group will
likely be in the Taiwan Straight, right? What are the Chinese going to
do, nuke it and face grave consequences like the DPRK? I'm willing to
bet that as invasion approaches we park two carrier battle groups
there and station B-2, F-117, and B-1 aircraft in neighboring friendly
nations like the ROK and Japan.
What a showdown that would be. It would make CNN worth watching again


Rob

"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message ...
"Eunometic" wrote in message
...


snip more of Arndt's unsupported fantasies


The reason for the 'bouncing bomb' was surely that it was the ony way
that a large charge could be placed accurately.

There are at least half a dozen different guidence methods in service
in various types of missile that can achieve 1 meter accuracy.
Maverick, Martel, the old Condor, Raptor, SLAMER differential GPS, TV
with or without man in the loop etc. All that is needed is to 'super
size' them. An extraction of a MOAB sized weapon from a C130 being
one option.

A C-130 penetrating 1400 miles of PRC airspace and delivering a MOAB, huh?
Get a grip. And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of time
and some post-processing?

The MOAB launch vehicle and system is what is interesting. Taiwan I
expect does have C130s and this suggests that extracting a 10 ton
missile by parachute from a cargo plane is possible. Perhaps 20 tons
is possible from a C130?

MOAB is a freefall device. I would envisage a missile more akin to
either skybolt or blue steel to give the necessary standoff
capabillity.


And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of time
and some post-processing

It only needs to update and calibrate an inertial platform.






One advanced version of SCUD has a TV guidence system to reduce the
accruacy to well below 50 meters. (Using a trident missile for this
sort of business with a penetrating warhead is another option)

Taiwan has neither Scuds not Tridents. Scud lacks enough of a warhead, too.


In WW2 apart from the fact that the carrier aircraft were impossibly
vulnerable

And a C-130 lumbering through PLA and PLAAF defended territory would not
be?!

Yes, well rather a lot of standoff capability would be needed.



Brooks

the Germans could have carried out such attacks with
Fritz-X from around 1943 onwards and the Americans with AZON/RAZON.
The Kehl-Strassbourg guidence system was compromised after the capture
of some missiles in Italy but variations of the guidence system to
restore immunity were also possible and plans existed to use the
missile on the 2 seat 4 engined version of the Arado 234C jet bomber
and thus the Germans would have had a delivery vehicle for such a
weapon.. The Fritz-X was a little small: being half the mass of
highball.

AZON's main use seems to have been attacks against railway lines in
the far east in a role it was highly effective. (23% hit rate).
This CLOS type of guidence could have placed a bomb behined a damwall.

"Eunometic" wrote in message
om...
"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
...
"Eunometic" wrote in message
...


snip more of Arndt's unsupported fantasies


The reason for the 'bouncing bomb' was surely that it was the ony way
that a large charge could be placed accurately.

There are at least half a dozen different guidence methods in service
in various types of missile that can achieve 1 meter accuracy.
Maverick, Martel, the old Condor, Raptor, SLAMER differential GPS, TV
with or without man in the loop etc. All that is needed is to 'super
size' them. An extraction of a MOAB sized weapon from a C130 being
one option.

A C-130 penetrating 1400 miles of PRC airspace and delivering a MOAB,
huh?
Get a grip. And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of
time
and some post-processing?

The MOAB launch vehicle and system is what is interesting. Taiwan I
expect does have C130s and this suggests that extracting a 10 ton
missile by parachute from a cargo plane is possible. Perhaps 20 tons
is possible from a C130?

Neither "missile" would be capable of breaching TG. For gosh sakes, people,
TG is a friggin' GRAVITY dam--its a large concrete monolith! Folks keep
comparing this to the Ruhr dams--but weren't they *arch* dams? One hell of a
difference between the cross sectional depth of an arch structure and that
of a gravity structure. Again, get a grip on reality.


MOAB is a freefall device. I would envisage a missile more akin to
either skybolt or blue steel to give the necessary standoff
capabillity.

Great, now you have a standoff capability with a puny warhead that can't do
anymore than scab the concrete.



And doesn't "differential GPS" require both quite a bit of time
and some post-processing

It only needs to update and calibrate an inertial platform.

No, I believe you are talking about two different things. Differential GPS
is the process used by surveyors to acheive sub-meter (centimeter?) level
accuracy, and it requires positioning of ground transponders and some degree
of post processing support.



One advanced version of SCUD has a TV guidence system to reduce the
accruacy to well below 50 meters. (Using a trident missile for this
sort of business with a penetrating warhead is another option)

Taiwan has neither Scuds not Tridents. Scud lacks enough of a warhead,
too.


In WW2 apart from the fact that the carrier aircraft were impossibly
vulnerable

And a C-130 lumbering through PLA and PLAAF defended territory would not
be?!

Yes, well rather a lot of standoff capability would be needed.

Again, you trade standoff for warhead load; acheiveing standoff means you
are not going to have enough whumpf! to do the job against a monolithic
concrete gravity dam of the size of TG.

Brooks

snip