Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Iranian toys, explosives, the Club-K and 40 foot shipping containers

When I read the following news item, specifically the part about a 40 foot shipping container, I couldn't help but think about the The Club-K Container Missile System and the prospect of Iran obtaining this system in the near future. More on that later, but first, the aforementioned news item:
Afghan police have seized 22 tons of Iranian explosives in boxes that were marked "food, toys and kitchenware," reports said Wednesday...

"We found these materials hidden in a 40 foot shipping container that had come from Iran. The explosives were disguised as merchandise like food, toys and kitchenware," deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Musa Rasouli told the news agency.

Roadside bombs, called "improvised explosive devices," or IEDs, are a primary offensive weapon used against U.S. and coalition forces..., causing most of the casualties.

Military officials and police in Afghanistan have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Taliban and other insurgents.
Now, about that Club-K Container Missile System and 40 foot shipping containers; as reported earlier this year:
A Russian company is marketing a devastating new cruise missile system which can be hidden inside a shipping container, giving any merchant vessel the capability to wipe out an aircraft carrier.

Defense experts say the system is designed to be concealed as a standard 40foot shipping container that cannot be identified until it is activated.

Potential customers for the formidable Club-K system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts. They worry that countries could pass on the satellite-guided missiles, which are very hard to detect, to terrorist groups.

Iran and Venezuela have already shown an interest in the Club-K Container Missile System which could allow them to carry out pre-emptive strikes from behind an enemy's missile defenses.

Some experts believe that if Iraq had the Club-K system in 2003 it would have made it impossible for America to invade, with any container ship in the Gulf a potential threat.

"Potential clients [of the Club-K] include anyone who likes the idea," said [Mikhail Barabanov, a defense expert at Russia's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies]. "It is known that the United Arab Emirates has shown interest in buying the Club."...

"It's a carrier-killer," said Hewson of Jane's. "If you are hit by one or two of them, the kinetic impact is vast...it's horrendous."
Word association: Food, toys, explosives, 40 foot shipping containers, Ahmadinejad, captive American hikers, Uranium, Russia, nuclear weapons, assistance, development, Iran, Obama, appeasement, negotiations-without preconditions, European Missile-defense system, U.S. President, pacifism, timetable, Afghanistan, deadline, Taliban, capitulation, escape clause, chaos, exit strategy, elections-2012, political calculations-aspirations, oh my!......

No comments: