Islamic State reveals US equipment failures

[The Huskar]

A still taken from a video released by the Islamic State's affiliate in Iraq's Al-Anbar province on 11 October shows the wreckage of a BGM-109 TLAM that purportedly came down near Al-Ramadi. Source: Islamic State
In the latest series of military failures revealed by the Islamic State's media channels, a US airdrop intended for the Kurdish defenders of the northern Syrian town of Kobane was instead seized by fighters from the Sunni militant group.

A still from a video released by the Islamic State on 21 October shows supplies dropped near Kobane using the JPADS. (Islamic State)


A video released by the Islamic State on 21 October showed a militant inspecting a pallet of supplies that were dropped using the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS). The JPADS uses GPS guidance and a steerable parachute to increase the accuracy of airdrops so they can be made from higher altitudes or into smaller drop zones.

The supplies included a number of green wooden boxes containing ammunition, including old fragmentation grenades without fuzes, rocket propelled grenades and associated propelling charges, and German-made DM41 hand grenades.

A militant removes one of the German-made DM41 hand grenades that were airdropped near Kobane for the town's Kurdish defenders, but fell into the hands of the Islamic State. (Islamic State)


The US Department of Defense said on 20 October that the US C-120 transport aircraft had conducted multiple airdrops near Kobane on the previous night to resupply the Kurdish forces defending the town. It said the weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies that were dropped were provided by the Kurdish authorities in neighbouring Iraq rather than the United States.

The Islamic State has also highlighted the failure of various munitions that the US has used since it began carrying out airstrikes against its assets in Syria on the night of 22-23 September.

An image released by the Islamic State's Aleppo affiliate on 2 October shows the remnants of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb purportedly dropped by a US aircraft near Kobane. (Islamic State)


This has included a photograph of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb that was purportedly dropped near Kobane sometime on or before 2 October. The photograph shows that the SDB's wings, rear fin assembly, and fuze were torn off when it hit the ground, but its warhead did not explode.

Another series of images released on 24 September showed the remnants of one of the BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) that were fired by US warships on the night of 22-23 September.

US officials said that the USS Arleigh Burke in the Red Sea and the USS Philippine Sea in the northern Gulf fired 47 TLAMs at positions used by the little-known Al-Qaeda affiliate called Khorasan west of the city of Aleppo on 22 September.

The Islamic State said the TLAM, which can be identified by the presence of its unitary warhead, came down near Mount Shaer in Homs province, 150 km southeast of Aleppo.

Another TLAM appears to have fallen short in the western province of Al-Anbar. A video released on 11 October by the Islamic State affiliate operating in the province showed what it described as a US unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that had been shot down. It actually showed a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) that was more intact than the one found in Syria and was stamped with a manufacturing date of July 2006. The group said it found the cruise missile near Al-Ramadi, 740 km southeast of Aleppo.

An image released from the Islamic State's affiliate in Syria's Homs province on 29 September 2014 shows the unitary warhead from a BGM-109 TLAM. (Islamic State)


US officials have not reported the use of any additional TLAMs since 22 September, suggesting the one found in Al-Anbar was fired on that day from the USS Philippine Sea in the northern Gulf, but came down in the desert when it was approximately half way along its planned flight path.

If two of the 47 TLAMs fired by the US Navy crashed on the way to their targets it would represent a failure rate of just more than 4%.

 

[C130]

don't worry more are the way. whether or not if they'll be duds is up to Allah

 

[Mosamania]

The acceptable failure rate that planners build their strategy on is 10% of total ammunition failing to function.

It is expected that there would be some duds in an operation, if the figure goes above 10% then a major reshuffle is warranted. The U.S. and other countries are currently trying to bring the failure rate down to 5% but that is a huge undertakes that birders unrealistic honestly.