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Mystery Missile Launched Near LA
J. L. Tympanum writes "CBS News is reporting the launch of an unidentified missile off the coast of California. No one wants to take credit for it." The article has visuals taken from a CBS affiliate's helicopter, and a Navy spokesman said it wasn't theirs.
Wrong date. November 9 is today, not last night.
Populus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur...
"Force shits upon Reason's back." - Poor Richard's Almanac
Much more likely, it was some sort of prototype/enhanced/modified missile tested by the USN, and they won't admit it just because doing so would mean admitting theres a development programme going on (and anyone getting a radar track of its mision profile might be able to deduce things about it)
I understand that stealth aircraft were tested for years before the technology was publicly acknowledged
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Has anyone looked at the NOTAMS for that day?
If it was a government launch then a NOTAM must have been filed to clear the air space.
They would not risk an accident that would take out an airliner full of people.
I tried to look but found nothing listed.
As to a demonstration that the US can launch ballistic missiles from a sub... Well yea that has been proven for about the last 50 years. And you can bet your bottom dollar that you do not just pop off long range missile with out telling Russia and China that you are going to do it!
That could be bad...
BTW Subs do not launch intercontinental ballistic missiles "ICBMs". They launch Sub launched ballistic missiles "SLBMs"
At this point the fact that nobody is saying anything and it is getting so little press really scares the daylights out of me.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
We know where it came from. Just because you don't isn't a problem.
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Then why would you launch it right next to one of the most populated areas in the US? If you were going to launch something like that why not take it to some overseas territories in the middle of the pacific and test it there? I mean, really, out of all the places to stage a launch you do it 30 some miles off the coast of a very populated city? Even though it is the US government, you would think they would be smarter than that.
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Nobody thought that it might be a demonstration to the US from an unnamed entity, trying to make the same point?
Is Dr. Evil on TV right now?
Bingo!
There's no reason for us to demonstrate our well-known SLBM capabilities to our own country's most populated county. I think it's highly likely that this is one of our 'peer nations' showing-off that we're entirely 'within range'.
Trust me, they saw this at Beale, where they have a huge radar system designed to see incoming ICBMs. If this wasn't an exercise or a test launch (both of which would have likely happened a little more out of the way), you won't hear much more about it. Neither the military nor the media would tell Americans if China, Russia, or India was playing around right off our beaches, the reality that we could all easily become iridescent chalky dust at the drop of a hat distracts from the main objectives: Fighting bad guys with AK-47s to secure cheap energy, and buying stuff on credit.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Not to mention it would make absolutely NO sense to fire off the coast of CA and risk a panic when we already have test ranges in the Pacific just for such tests. I'm starting to wonder if this wasn't a fuckup, as that is the ONLY reason why I could think they would launch something that close. Maybe they had a leak and had to get the bird off the ship? Because that is the only reason why I can see the Navy or other branch of the Armed Forces not going through established procedures and then trying to claim it wasn't them.
It isn't like the Navy would want to broadcast "Yesterday Sgt Gomer found PFC Pile had accidentally started a serious breach of safety and security, causing us to launch the bird to keep the dumbass from blowing the whole ship up. We apologize for any scares and can assure you Pile is now manning a station in the Arctic circle. Have a nice day." Because the only other reason I can think of is that it wasn't the USA, which is a scary thought. Hey, didn't we bust some drug dealers awhile back for having an ex Soviet sub? while I doubt China or Russia would be that stupid, there are plenty of others with subs not to mention Soviet hardware on the market. It would be pretty damned scary if some "off the books" Boomer or Alpha just popped up and said hi, and the US sure as hell wouldn't admit if that were the case.
Either way this one is a head scratcher, as it would make no sense for the USA to launch it on purpose given the 50 year+ history of doing these types of tests at our Pacific ranges. Hell have we EVER done a test launch off our own coast before? Because I certainly don't remember ever hearing of one.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
35 miles out to sea is in international waters..... shy of declaring war the U.S. Navy isn't going to destroy anything with impunity, but you will see a few naval officers get demoted real fast for failing to detect that vessel if it wasn't associated with the Navy.
Let's ignore that the US hasn't actually ratified the international treaties that sets those rules, meaning it doesn't really care what China or anyone else thinks it can do 35 miles from US coast.
You're forgetting that this was launched in the middle of the Channel Islands off the California coast, it's considered Archipelagic waters and therefore sovereign US territory.
China has enough nukes to make the west coast of the usa a mess, killing hundreds of thousands or even several million. The USA has enough nukes to make China the world's largest parking lot, and can activate enough others on standby to make it a solid glass parking lot. They have a few hundred, we have tens of thousands, including some megaton varieties which they don't have. They have enough to prevent nuclear war. We have enough to exterminate the entire humans race. There is a big difference in scale here.
China is already at war with us, but it is an economic war. They wouldn't fuck this up by using their military except to defend themselves, or invade Taiwan. And yes, they are already planning the invasion of Taiwan.
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