Misplaced Pages

#414585

169-684: Operation Infinite Reach was the codename for American cruise missile strikes on al-Qaeda bases that were launched concurrently across two continents on 20 August 1998. Launched by the U.S. Navy , the strikes hit the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum , Sudan , and a camp in Khost Province , Afghanistan , in retaliation for al-Qaeda's August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania , which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured over 4,000 others. Operation Infinite Reach

338-516: A Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that a missile had landed in Pakistan and killed six Pakistanis; the government later retracted the statement and fired Manzoor for the incorrect report. However, the 9/11 Commission Report states that Clinton later called Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif "to apologize for a wayward missile that had killed several people in a Pakistani village." One 1998 U.S. News & World Report article suggested that most of

507-489: A Pew Research Center poll reported they had "followed the story 'very' or 'fairly' closely." The week after the strikes, the evening programs of the three major news networks featured 69 stories on them. In a Newsweek poll, up to 40% thought that diverting attention from the Lewinsky scandal was one objective of the strikes; according to a Star Tribune poll, 31% of college-educated respondents and 60% of those "with less than

676-587: A "flak rocket" concept, which led Walter Dornberger to ask Wernher von Braun to prepare a study on a guided missile able to reach between 15,000 and 18,000 m (49,000 and 59,000 ft) altitude. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, and said as much to the director of the T-Amt , Roluf Lucht , in July. The directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and

845-482: A 12th grade education" believed that the attacks were motivated "a great deal" by the scandal. A USA Today / CNN / Gallup poll of 628 Americans showed that 47% thought it would increase terrorist attacks, while 38% thought it would lessen terrorism. A Los Angeles Times poll of 895 taken three days after the attack indicated that 84% believed that the operation would trigger a retaliatory terrorist attack on U.S. soil. While U.S. allies such as Australia , Germany ,

1014-551: A 3-day demonstration in Lahore to support bin Laden, in which 50,000 Pakistanis promised vengeance for the strikes. American embassies and facilities worldwide also received a high volume of threats following the attacks. The attacks led to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the region that Lewinsky was a Jewish agent influencing Clinton against aiding Palestine, which would influence Mohamed Atta to join al-Qaeda 's Hamburg cell and commit

1183-708: A 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. This weapon did not emerge for 16 years, when it entered operation as the RIM-8 Talos . Heavy shipping losses to kamikaze attacks during the Liberation of the Philippines and the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for guided missile development. This led to the British Fairey Stooge and Brakemine efforts, and

1352-521: A SAM system in earnest with the opening of the Cold War . Joseph Stalin was worried that Moscow would be subjected to American and British air raids , like those against Berlin , and, in 1951, he demanded that a missile system to counter a 900 bomber raid be built as quickly as possible. This led to the S-25 Berkut system ( NATO reporting name : SA-1 "Guild"), which was designed, developed and deployed in

1521-544: A Syrian airbase in retaliation for a Syrian chemical weapons attack against a rebel stronghold. The United States Air Force (USAF) deploys an air-launched cruise missile, the AGM-86 ALCM . The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM-86 and AGM-129 ACM . Both missile types are configurable for either conventional or nuclear warheads. The USAF adopted the AGM-86 for its bomber fleet while AGM-109

1690-555: A UN investigation of the Al-Shifa plant to verify or disprove the allegations of weapons production; while the proposal was backed by several international organizations, it was opposed by the U.S. The American Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) criticized the CIA's intelligence on Al-Shifa and bin Laden in an August 6 memo; as James Risen reported, INR analysts concluded that "the evidence linking Al Shifa to bin Laden and chemical weapons

1859-560: A V-1 was only a small fraction of that of a V-2 supersonic ballistic missile with a similar-sized warhead. Unlike the V-2, the initial deployments of the V-1 required stationary launch ramps which were susceptible to bombardment. Nazi Germany, in 1943, also developed the Mistel composite aircraft program, which can be seen as a rudimentary air-launched cruise missile, where a piloted fighter-type aircraft

SECTION 10

#1733085880415

2028-500: A commission to investigate the factory. Sudan invited the U.S. to conduct chemical tests at the site for evidence to support its claim that the plant might have been a chemical weapons factory; the U.S. refused the invitation to investigate and did not officially apologize for the attacks. Press coverage indicated that Al-Shifa was not a secure, restricted-access factory, as the U.S. alleged, and American officials later conceded that Al-Shifa manufactured pharmaceutical drugs. Sudan requested

2197-548: A conventional or a nuclear warhead, while smaller ones carry only conventional warheads. A hypersonic cruise missile travels at least five times the speed of sound ( Mach 5). These missiles travel faster than the speed of sound, usually using ramjet engines. The range is typically 100–500 km, but can be greater. Guidance systems vary. Examples: The United States, Russia, North Korea, India, Iran, South Korea, Israel, France, China and Pakistan have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles. These missiles have

2366-407: A conventional war. Once a major group unto itself, medium-range designs have seen less development since the 1990s, as the focus has changed to unconventional warfare. Developments have also been made in onboard maneuverability. Israel's David's Sling Stunner missile is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude. The multi-stage interceptor consists of

2535-666: A degree, leading to the introduction of the FIM-43 Redeye , SA-7 Grail and Blowpipe . Rapid improvement in the 1980s led to second generation designs, like the FIM-92 Stinger , 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14), Igla-1 and Starstreak , with dramatically improved performance. By the 1990s to the 2010s, the Chinese had developed designs drawing influence from these, notably the FN-6 and the QW series . Through

2704-460: A few casualties and some damaged infrastructure, but no more." Since the camps were relatively unsophisticated, they were quickly and easily rebuilt within two weeks. ISI director Hamid Gul reportedly notified the Taliban of the missile strikes in advance; bin Laden, who survived the strikes, later claimed that he had been informed of them by Pakistanis. A bin Laden spokesman claimed that bin Laden and

2873-495: A fictional president faking a war in Albania to distract attention from a sex scandal. Administration officials denied any connection between the missile strikes and the ongoing scandal, and 9/11 Commission investigators found no reason to dispute those statements. Operation Infinite Reach was covered heavily by U.S. media: About 75% of Americans knew about the strikes by the evening of August 20. The next day, 79% of respondents in

3042-461: A head-on approach at low speeds comparable to manned aircraft. These designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below. These included Wasserfall and Rheintochter. Both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on

3211-563: A hypersonic cruise missile in August 2021, a claim it denies. The French Force de Frappe nuclear forces include both land and sea-based bombers with Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) high-speed medium-range nuclear cruise missiles. Two models are in use, ASMP and a newer ASMP-Amelioré (ASMP-A), which was developed in 1999. An estimated 40 to 50 were produced. India in 2017 successfully flight-tested its indigenous Nirbhay ('Fearless') land-attack cruise missile, which can deliver nuclear warheads to

3380-522: A layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles. The American Nike Ajax was the first operational SAM system, and the Soviet Union's S-75 Dvina was the most-produced SAM system. Widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 and MBDA Aster Missile naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like

3549-685: A link between bin Laden and the deaths of U.S. troops in Somalia . These were used as the foundation for the June 1998 New York indictment of bin Laden, although the charges were later dropped. The planned raid was cancelled in May after internecine disputes between officials at the FBI and the CIA; the hesitation of the National Security Council (NSC) to approve the plan; concerns over the raid's chance of success, and

SECTION 20

#1733085880415

3718-628: A low risk of collateral damage. Regardless, planners added more cruise missiles to the strike on Al-Shifa, aiming to completely destroy the plant and any dangerous substances. Clarke stated that intelligence linked bin Laden to Al-Shifa's current and past operators, namely Iraqi nerve gas experts such as Emad al-Ani and Sudan's ruling National Islamic Front . Since 1995, the CIA had received intelligence suggesting collaboration between Sudan and bin Laden to produce chemical weapons for attacking U.S. Armed Forces personnel based in Saudi Arabia. Since 1989,

3887-439: A part of their multi-layered air defence. SAM systems generally fall into two broad groups based on their guidance systems, those using radar and those using some other means. Longer range missiles generally use radar for early detection and guidance. Early SAM systems generally used tracking radars and fed guidance information to the missile using radio control concepts, referred to in the field as command guidance . Through

4056-511: A promise to Saudi intelligence chief Turki bin Faisal to hand over bin Laden, and the regime instead allegedly strengthened its ties with the al-Qaeda chief. Operation Infinite Reach, the largest U.S. action in response to a terrorist attack since the 1986 bombing of Libya , was met with a mixed international response: U.S. allies and most of the American public supported the strikes, but many across

4225-463: A range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph). They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation ; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems. Most recent versions can use satellite navigation . Examples: These missiles are about

4394-488: A rush program. Early units entered operational service on 7 May 1955, and the entire system ringing Moscow was completely activated by June 1956. The system failed, however, to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of the Soviet capital Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956. The S-25 was a static system, but efforts were also put into a smaller design that would be much more mobile. This emerged in 1957 as

4563-458: A separate tracking radar for attack. Short range systems are more likely to be entirely visual for detection. Hybrid systems are also common. The MIM-72 Chaparral was fired optically, but normally operated with a short range early warning radar that displayed targets to the operator. This radar, the FAAR , was taken into the field with a Gama Goat and set up behind the lines. Information was passed to

4732-518: A single radar screen. Development of all these systems was carried out at the same time, and the war ended before any of them was ready for combat use. The infighting between various groups in the military also delayed development. Some extreme fighter designs, like the Komet and Natter , also overlapped with SAMs in their intended uses. Albert Speer was especially supportive of missile development. In his opinion, had they been consistently developed from

4901-584: A solid-fuel, rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. MANPAD systems first developed in the 1960s and proved themselves in battle during the 1970s. MANPADS normally have ranges on the order of 3 km (1.9 mi) and are effective against attack helicopters and aircraft making ground attacks. Against fixed wing aircraft, they can be very effective, forcing them to fly outside

5070-611: A strike range of 1,000 km. Nirbhay had been flight-tested successfully. India currently operates 7 variants of Brahmos cruise missile operational range of 300-1000 km. India is currently developing hypersonic BrahMos-II which is going to be the fastest cruise missile. The Israel Defense Forces reportedly deploy the medium-range air-launched Popeye Turbo ALCM and the Popeye Turbo SLCM medium-long range cruise missile with nuclear warheads on Dolphin class submarines . Pakistan currently has four cruise missile systems:

5239-568: A target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic , supersonic , or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non- ballistic , extremely low-altitude trajectory. The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in the British 1909 film The Airship Destroyer in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London . In 1916,

Operation Infinite Reach - Misplaced Pages Continue

5408-632: A targets list; the initial list included twenty targets in Sudan, Afghanistan, and an unknown third country, although it was narrowed down on August 12. In an August 10 Small Group meeting, the principals agreed to use Tomahawk cruise missiles, rather than troops or aircraft, in the retaliatory strikes. Cruise missiles had been previously used against Iraq as reprisal for the 1993 attempted assassination of then-President George H. W. Bush . Using cruise missiles also helped to preserve secrecy; airstrikes would have required more preparation that might have leaked to

5577-563: A total of over 50 killed in the attack. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen 's leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil , initially claimed a death toll of over 50 militants, but later said that he had lost fewer than ten fighters. Death toll ranges from 6 or 50 militants. Pakistani and hospital sources gave a death toll of eleven dead and fifty-three wounded. Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid writes that 20 Afghans , seven Pakistanis , three Yemenis , two Egyptians , one Saudi and one Turk were killed. Initial reports by Pakistani intelligence chief Chaudhry Manzoor and

5746-508: A variation of the SARH technique, but based on laser illumination instead of radar. These have the advantage of being small and very fast acting, as well as highly accurate. A few older designs use purely optical tracking and command guidance, perhaps the best known example of this is the British Rapier system, which was initially an all-optical system with high accuracy. All SAM systems from

5915-556: Is due to improved rocket fuels and ever-smaller electronics in the guidance systems. Some very long-range systems remain, notably the Russian S-400 , which has a range of 400 km (250 mi). Medium-range designs, like the Rapier and 2K12 Kub , are specifically designed to be highly mobile with very fast, or zero, setup times. Many of these designs were mounted on armoured vehicles, allowing them to keep pace with mobile operations in

6084-609: Is expected that they would be more widely used against sea skimming missiles rather than aircraft . Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs, and naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialize in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga -class cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system or Kirov -class cruisers with the S-300F Fort missile system. Modern Warships may carry all three types (from long-range to short-range) of SAMs as

6253-488: Is that its users face difficult choices in target allocation , to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance, during the 2001 strikes on Afghanistan the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the weapon can not be blamed for poor target selection, and

6422-752: The Air Materiel Command Banshee, the SM-62 Snark , the SM-64 Navaho , and the MGM-1 Matador. The Banshee design was similar to Operation Aphrodite ; like Aphrodite, it failed, and was canceled in April 1949. Concurrently, the US Navy's Operation Bumblebee , was conducted at Topsail Island , North Carolina , from c. 1 June 1946, to 28 July 1948. Bumblebee produced proof-of-concept technologies that influenced

6591-715: The American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane , a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments, the United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called the Kettering Bug . Germany had also flown trials with remote-controlled aerial gliders ( Torpedogleiter ) built by Siemens-Schuckert beginning in 1916. In

6760-1061: The August 6, 2001 , President's Daily Brief stated that after Operation Infinite Reach, "Bin Ladin told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington." Afterwards, U.S. considered, but did not execute, more cruise missile strikes; from 1999 to 2001, ships and submarines in the North Arabian Sea were prepared to conduct further attacks against bin Laden if his location could be ascertained. The U.S. considered firing more cruise missiles against bin Laden in Kandahar in December 1998 and May 1999; at an Emirati hunting camp in Helmand in February 1999; and in Ghazni in July 1999, but

6929-607: The Babur missile Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) have designed several cruise missile variants, such as the well-known C-802 , some of which are capable of carrying biological, chemical, nuclear, and conventional warheads. China has the CJ-10 land attack cruise missile which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Additionally, China appears to have tested

Operation Infinite Reach - Misplaced Pages Continue

7098-511: The Boeing B-17 , which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights , an average of 2,805 rounds had to be fired per bomber destroyed. Bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases the cost of the system, and (generally) slows the rate of fire. Faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like

7267-560: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234 , flak would be essentially useless. This potential was already obvious by 1942, when Walther von Axthelm outlined the growing problems with flak defences that he predicted would soon be dealing with "aircraft speeds and flight altitudes [that] will gradually reach 1,000 km/h (620 mph) and between 10,000–15,000 m (33,000–49,000 ft)." This

7436-552: The House and Senate intelligence committees were also investigating the target-selection process, the evidence cited, and whether intelligence officials recommended attacking the plant. It was later hypothesized that the EMPTA detected was the result of the breakdown of a pesticide or confused with Fonofos , a structurally similar insecticide used in African agriculture. Eric Croddy contends that

7605-498: The Muslim world disapproved them, viewing them as attacks specifically against Muslims, a factor that was further capitalized by radicals. The failure of the attacks to kill bin Laden also enhanced his public image in parts of the Muslim world. Further strikes were planned but not executed; as a 2002 congressional inquiry noted, Operation Infinite Reach was "the only instance ... in which

7774-611: The Nike Hercules , the first nuclear-armed SAM. The U.S. Army Air Forces had also considered collision-course weapons (like the German radio-controlled concepts) and launched Project Thumper in 1946. This was merged with another project, Wizard, and emerged as the CIM-10 Bomarc in 1959. The Bomarc had a range of over 500 km, but it was quite expensive and somewhat unreliable. Development of Oerlikon 's RSD 58 started in 1947, and

7943-625: The Pakistan Army since 2010, and Pakistan Navy since 2018. Russia has Kh-55SM cruise missiles, with a range similar to the United States' AGM-129 range of 3000 km, but are able to carry a more powerful warhead of 200 kt. They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an inertial navigation system . They are air-launched from either Tupolev Tu-95s , Tupolev Tu-22Ms , or Tupolev Tu-160s , each able to carry 16 for

8112-592: The Republic of China and South Korea. On 7 November 1956, the U.S. Air Force deployed Matador units in West Germany, whose missiles were capable of striking targets in the Warsaw Pact , from their fixed day-to-day sites to unannounced dispersed launch locations. This alert was in response to the crisis posed by the Soviet attack on Hungary which suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Between 1957 and 1961

8281-516: The Sea Slug . The Vietnam War was the first modern war in which guided antiaircraft missiles seriously challenged highly advanced supersonic jet aircraft. It would also be the first and only time that the latest and most modern air defense technologies of the Soviet Union and the most modern jet fighter planes and bombers of the United States confronted each other in combat (if one does not count

8450-559: The September 11 attacks . A Planet Hollywood restaurant in Cape Town , South Africa , was the target of a terrorist bombing on August 25, killing two and injuring 26. The perpetrators, Muslims Against Global Oppression (later known as People Against Gangsterism and Drugs ), stated that it was in retaliation for Operation Infinite Reach. [Bin Laden] had been shot at by a high-tech superpower and

8619-448: The Stinger and 9K38 Igla . The first known idea for a guided surface-to-air missile was in 1925, when a beam riding system was proposed whereby a rocket would follow a searchlight beam onto a target. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rocket's four tail fins, with the cells facing backwards. When one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in

SECTION 50

#1733085880415

8788-425: The U.S. Code ; the former guarantees a UN member state's right to self-defense , while the latter authorizes presidential action by "all necessary means" to target international terrorist infrastructure. Government lawyers asserted that since the missile strikes were an act of self-defense and not directed at an individual, they were not forbidden as an assassination. A review by administration lawyers concluded that

8957-402: The U.S. Navy 's SAM-N-2 Lark . The Lark ran into considerable difficulty and it never entered operational use. The end of the war led to the British efforts being used strictly for research and development throughout their lifetime. In the immediate post-war era, SAM developments were under way around the world, with several of these entering service in the early- and mid-1950s. Coming to

9126-481: The United Kingdom , Israel , and the Northern Alliance supported the attacks, they were opposed by Cuba , Russia , and China , as well as the targeted nations and other Muslim countries. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said that "resolute actions by all countries" were required against terrorism, while Russian President Boris Yeltsin condemned "the ineffective approach to resolving disputes without trying all forms of negotiation and diplomacy." The Taliban denounced

9295-409: The air-launched Ra'ad-I and its enhanced version Ra'ad-II ; the ground and submarine launched Babur ; ship-launched Harbah missile and surface launched Zarb missile . Both, Ra'ad and Babur , can carry nuclear warheads between 10 and 25 kt, and deliver them to targets at a range of up to 300 km (190 mi) and 450 km (280 mi) respectively. Babur has been in service with

9464-399: The 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide

9633-489: The 1960s, the semi-active radar homing (SARH) concept became much more common. In SARH, the reflections of the tracking radar's broadcasts are picked up by a receiver in the missile, which homes in on this signal. SARH has the advantage of leaving most of the equipment on the ground, while also eliminating the need for the ground station to communicate with the missile after launch. Smaller missiles, especially MANPADS, generally use infrared homing guidance systems. These have

9802-413: The American program to develop unmanned combat air vehicles . On September 2, the Taliban announced that it had found an unexploded U.S. missile, and the Pakistani press claimed that another had landed in Balochistan 's Kharan Desert . Russian intelligence and intercepted al-Qaeda communications indicate that China sent officials to Khost to examine and buy some of the unexploded missiles; bin Laden used

9971-423: The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the United States naval arsenal. It gives ships and submarines a somewhat accurate, long-range, conventional land attack weapon. Each costs about US$ 1.99 million. Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm . On 7 April 2017, during the Syrian Civil War , U.S. warships fired more than 50 cruise missiles into

10140-403: The Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched, and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched version was operational as of late 2007. The Brahmos have the capability to attack targets on land. Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles: the SS-N-12 Sandbox , SS-N-19 Shipwreck , SS-N-22 Sunburn and SS-N-25 Switchblade . Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has made

10309-417: The CIA or U.S. military carried out an operation directly against Bin Laden before September 11 ." On 23 February 1998, Osama bin Laden , Ayman al-Zawahiri , and three other leaders of Islamic militant organizations issued a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, publishing it in al-Quds al-Arabi . Deploring the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia ,

SECTION 60

#1733085880415

10478-465: The ISI. The missiles hit at roughly 10:00 PM Khost time (17:30 GMT); as in Sudan, the strikes were launched at night to avoid collateral damage. In contrast to the attack on Al-Shifa, the strike on the Afghan camps was uncontroversial. The U.S. first fired unitary (C-model) Tomahawks at the Khost camps, aiming to attract militants into the open, then launched a barrage of D-model missiles equipped with submunitions to maximize casualties. Sources differ on

10647-422: The Interwar Period, Britain's Royal Aircraft Establishment developed the Larynx (Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine) , which underwent a few flight tests in the 1920s. In the Soviet Union , Sergei Korolev headed the GIRD -06 cruise missile project from 1932 to 1939, which used a rocket-powered boost- glide bomb design. The 06/III (RP-216) and 06/IV (RP-212) contained gyroscopic guidance systems. The vehicle

10816-431: The Khost camps but failed to deter al-Qaeda and "probably intensified [bin Laden's] hunger for violence." Similarly, researcher Rohan Gunaratna told the 9/11 Commission that the attacks did not reduce the threat of al-Qaeda. Each cruise missile cost between $ 750,000 and $ 1 million, and nearly $ 750,000,000 in weapons was fired in the strikes overall. The missiles' failure to eliminate their targets led to an acceleration in

10985-673: The Muawia, Jihad Wahl , and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami camps as targets. According to Shelton, the base camp housed "storage, housing, training and administration facilities for the complex," while the support camp included weapons-storage facilities and managed the site's logistics. Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Algerian Armed Islamic Group also used the Khost camps, as well as Pakistani militant groups fighting an insurgency in Kashmir , such as Harkat Ansar , Lashkar-e-Taiba , and Hizbul Mujahideen . The rudimentary camps, reputedly run by Taliban official Jalaluddin Haqqani , were frequented by Arab, Chechen, and Central Asian militants, as well as

11154-405: The Pakistanis would notice the U.S. Navy ships, but was told that submerged submarines would launch the missiles. However, the Pakistan Navy detected the destroyers and informed the government. At about 7:30 PM Khartoum time (17:30 GMT ), two American warships in the Red Sea ( USS Briscoe and USS Hayler ) fired thirteen Tomahawk missiles at Sudan's Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which

11323-455: The RN in 1999, during the Kosovo War (the United States fired cruise missiles in 1991). The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Typhoon and previously its Tornado GR4 aircraft. It is also used by France, where it is known as SCALP EG, and carried by the Armée de l'Air 's Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft. India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos . There are three versions of

11492-434: The Saudis, insisting that removing bin Laden was the price of cordial relations with the Kingdom. American analysts believed Turki offered a large amount of financial aid to resolve the dispute over bin Laden. Omar agreed to the deal, and the Saudis sent the Taliban 400 pickup trucks and funding, enabling the Taliban to retake Mazar-i-Sharif . While the Taliban sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia in July for further discussions,

11661-403: The September 11 attacks. The operation's failure later dissuaded President George W. Bush from ordering similar strikes in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan . Cruise missile A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on

11830-541: The Shifa plant had no role whatsoever in CW production." Four U.S. Navy ships and the submarine USS Columbia , stationed in the Arabian Sea , fired between 60 and 75 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Afghanistan at the Zhawar Kili Al-Badr camp complex in the Khost region, which included a base camp, a support camp, and four training camps. Peter Bergen identifies the targeted camps, located in Afghanistan's " Pashtun belt," as al-Badr 1 and 2, al-Farooq , Khalid bin Walid , Abu Jindal, and Salman Farsi; other sources identify

11999-437: The Soviet Union began to work on air-launched cruise missiles as well ( ALCM ). These ACLM missiles were typically delivered via bombers designated as "Blinders" or "Backfire". The missiles in this configuration were called the AS-1, and AS-2 with eventual new variants with more development time. The main purpose of Soviet-based cruise missiles was to have defense and offensive mechanisms against enemy ships; in other words, most of

12168-407: The Soviet Union was working on nearly ten different types of cruise missiles. However, due to resources, most of the initial types of cruise missiles developed by the Soviet Union were Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles or Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles ( SLCMs ). The SS-N-1 cruise missile was developed to have different configurations to be fired from a submarine or a ship. However, as time progressed,

12337-433: The Soviet cruise missiles were anti-ship missiles. In the 1980s the Soviet Union had developed an arsenal of cruise missiles nearing 600 platforms which consisted of land, sea, and air delivery systems. The United States has deployed nine nuclear cruise missiles at one time or another. Currently, cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this

12506-630: The State Department also wrote that the missile strikes worsened Afghan-U.S. relations while bringing the Taliban and al-Qaeda closer together. A Taliban spokesman even told State Department officials in November that "If [the Taliban] could have retaliated with similar strikes against Washington, it would have." The Taliban also denied American charges that bin Laden was responsible for the embassy bombings. When Turki visited Omar to retrieve bin Laden, Omar told

12675-450: The State Department, saying that the strikes would only lead to more anti-Americanism and terrorism, and that Clinton should resign. The embassy bombings and the declaration of war against the U.S. had divided the Taliban and angered Omar. However, bin Laden swore an oath of fealty to the Taliban leader, and the two became friends. According to Wright, Omar also believed that turning over bin Laden would weaken his position. In an October cable,

12844-566: The Sudanese opposition and Uganda had alleged that the regime was manufacturing and using chemical weapons , although the U.S. did not accuse Sudan of chemical weapons proliferation . Al-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl had also spoken of bin Laden's desire to obtain weapons of mass destruction , and an August 4 CIA intelligence report suggested bin Laden "had already acquired chemical weapons and might be ready to attack". Cohen later testified that physical evidence, technical and human intelligence, and

13013-425: The Taliban continued, and the State Department insisted to them that the U.S. was only opposed to bin Laden and al-Qaeda, at whom the missile strikes were aimed, not Afghanistan and its leadership. Following the strikes, Osama bin Laden's spokesman announced that "The battle has not started yet. Our answer will be deeds, not words." Zawahiri made a phone call to reporter Rahimullah Yusufzai , stating that "We survived

13182-456: The Taliban had prepared for the strike after hearing of the evacuation of Americans from Pakistan. Other U.S. officials reject the tip-off theory, citing a lack of evidence and ISI casualties in the strike; Tenet later wrote in his memoirs that the CIA could not ascertain whether Bin Laden had been warned in advance. Steve Coll reports that the CIA heard after the attack that bin Laden had been at Zhawar Kili Al-Badr but had left some hours before

13351-664: The Tu-95, 12 for the Tu-160, and 4 for the Tu-22M. A stealth version of the missile, the Kh-101 is in development. It has similar qualities as the Kh-55, except that its range has been extended to 5,000 km, is equipped with a 1,000 kg conventional warhead, and has stealth features which reduce its probability of intercept. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most recent cruise missile developed

13520-502: The U.S. destroyed the facility with cruise missiles, killing or wounding 11 Sudanese. The strike on al-Shifa proved controversial; after the attacks, the U.S. evidence and rationale were criticized as faulty, and academics Max Taylor and Mohamed Elbushra cite "a broad acceptance that this plant was not involved in the production of any chemical weapons." The missile strikes on al-Qaeda's Afghan training camps were aimed at preempting more attacks and killing bin Laden. These strikes damaged

13689-589: The U.S. of state terrorism . Mustafa Mashhur , the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood , said that U.S. military action would inflame public opinion against America and foster regional unrest, which was echoed by a Hezbollah spokesman. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen threatened Americans and Jews , announcing a worldwide jihad against the U.S. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya denounced the strikes as "a crime which will not go without punishment" and encouraged fellow militant groups to reciprocate. In November, Lashkar-e-Taiba held

13858-521: The U.S. suspected either Hamas or Hezbollah for the bombings, but FBI Agents John P. O'Neill and Ali Soufan demonstrated that al-Qaeda was responsible. Based on electronic and phone intercepts, physical evidence from Nairobi, and interrogations, officials soon demonstrated bin Laden as the perpetrator of the attacks. On August 8, the White House asked the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prepare

14027-412: The U.S. withdrew its intelligence staff from Sudan in 1996 and later retracted 100 intelligence reports from a fraudulent Sudanese source. Ultimately, Barletta concludes that "It remains possible that Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory may have been involved in some way in producing or storing the chemical compound EMPTA ... On balance, the evidence available to date indicates that it is more probable that

14196-449: The U.S. wrongly claimed was helping bin Laden build chemical weapons. The entire factory was destroyed except for the administration, water-cooling, and plant laboratory sections, which were severely damaged. One night watchman was killed and ten other Sudanese were wounded by the strike. Worried about the possibility for hazardous chemical leakages, analysts ran computer simulations on wind patterns, climate, and chemical data, which indicated

14365-583: The US military's other missile projects. During the Cold War , both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept, of deploying early cruise missiles from land, submarines, and aircraft. The main outcome of the United States Navy submarine missile project was the SSM-N-8 Regulus missile, based upon the V-1 but powered by an Allison J33 jet engine. The Regulus entered service but

14534-449: The United States followed an ambitious and well-funded program to develop a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM). It was designed to fly below the enemy's radar at speeds above Mach 3 and carry hydrogen bombs that it would drop along its path over enemy territory. Although the concept was proven sound and the 500-megawatt (670,000 hp) engine finished a successful test run in 1961, no airworthy device

14703-663: The Yom Kippur War wherein IAF was challenged by Syrian SA-3s). The USAF responded to this threat with increasingly effective means. Early efforts to directly attack the missiles sites as part of Operation Spring High and Operation Iron Hand were generally unsuccessful, but the introduction of Wild Weasel aircraft carrying Shrike missiles and the Standard ARM missile changed the situation dramatically. Feint and counterfeint followed as each side introduced new tactics to try to gain

14872-424: The administration was concerned about killing civilians and hurting the U.S.' image. On August 11, General Anthony Zinni of Central Command was instructed to plan attacks on bin Laden's Khost camps, where CIA intelligence indicated bin Laden and other militants would be meeting on August 20, purportedly to plan further attacks against the U.S. Clinton was informed of the plan on August 12 and 14. Participants in

15041-525: The advantage of being "fire-and-forget", once launched they will home on the target on their own with no external signals needed. In comparison, SARH systems require the tracking radar to illuminate the target, which may require them to be exposed through the attack. Systems combining an infrared seeker as a terminal guidance system on a missile using SARH are also known, like the MIM-46 Mauler , but these are generally rare. Some newer short-range systems use

15210-629: The al-Qaeda chief were soon published, parents began naming their newborn sons Osama, mosques distributed his taped speeches, and cargo trucks bore the slogan "Long Live Osama". Children in Kenya and Tanzania wore bin Laden T-shirts, and al-Qaeda sold propaganda videos of the strikes' damage in European and Middle Eastern Islamic bookstores. A 1999 report prepared by Sandia National Laboratories stated that bin Laden "appeared to many as an underdog standing firm in

15379-481: The alleged U.S. aim to fragment Iraq , and U.S. support for Israel , they declared that "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilian and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it." In spring 1998, Saudi elites became concerned about the threat posed by al-Qaeda and bin Laden; militants attempted to infiltrate surface-to-air missiles inside

15548-597: The attack would be legal, since the president has the authority to attack the infrastructure of anti-American terrorist groups, and al-Qaeda's infrastructure was largely human. Officials also interpreted "infrastructure" to include al-Qaeda's leadership. The missiles would pass into Pakistani airspace, overflying "a suspected Pakistani nuclear weapons site," according to Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Ralston ; U.S. officials feared Pakistan would mistake them for an Indian nuclear attack . Clarke

15717-470: The attack ... we aren't afraid of bombardment, threats, and acts of aggression ... we are ready for more sacrifices. The war has only just begun; the Americans should now await the answer." Al-Qaeda attempted to recruit chemists to develop a more addictive type of heroin for export to the U.S. and Western Europe, but was unsuccessful. A September 1998 intelligence report was titled "UBL Plans for Reprisals Against U.S. Targets, Possibly in U.S.," while

15886-632: The bin Laden-linked terrorist group Egyptian Islamic Jihad , the agency had been unaware at the time that Idris owned the Al-Shifa facility. Idris later denied any links to bin Laden and sued to recover $ 24 million in funds frozen by the U.S., as well as for the damage to his factory. Idris hired investigations firm Kroll Inc. , which reported in February 1999 that neither Idris nor Al-Shifa was connected to terrorism. The chairman of Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries insisted that his factory did not make nerve gas , and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir formed

16055-461: The bomber remaining outside the range of the ship's antiaircraft guns , and the missiles themselves were too small and fast to be attacked effectively. To combat this threat, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Bumblebee to develop a ramjet-powered missile to destroy the launching aircraft at long range. The initial performance goal was to target an intercept at a horizontal range of 10 miles (16 km) and 30,000 feet (9,100 m) altitude, with

16224-477: The bombings. That day, Clinton started meeting with his "Small Group" of national security advisers, which included Berger, CIA director George Tenet , Secretary of State Madeleine Albright , Attorney General Janet Reno , Defense Secretary William Cohen , and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton . The group's objective was to plan a military response to the East Africa embassy bombings. Initially

16393-481: The camps were relocated near Kandahar and Kabul, paranoia lingered as al-Qaeda suspected that a traitor had facilitated the attacks. For example, Abu Jandal claimed that the U.S. had employed an Afghan cook to pinpoint bin Laden's location. Bin Laden augmented his personal bodyguard and began changing where he slept, while Al-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef frisked journalists who sought to meet Bin Laden. Two days after Operation Infinite Reach, Omar reportedly called

16562-463: The camps' locations. On August 14, Tenet told the Small Group that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were doubtless responsible for the attack; Tenet called the intelligence a "slam dunk", according to counterterrorism official Richard Clarke , and Clinton approved the attacks the same day. As the 9/11 Commission Report relates, the group debated "whether to strike targets outside of Afghanistan". Tenet briefed

16731-415: The cities' U.S. embassies simultaneously with truck bombs. In Nairobi, the explosion collapsed the nearby Ufundi Building and destroyed the embassy, killing 213 people, including 12 Americans; another 4,000 people were wounded. In Dar es Salaam, the bomber was unable to get close enough to the embassy to demolish it, but the blast killed 11 Africans and wounded 85. Bin Laden justified the high-casualty attacks,

16900-454: The damage and casualties the camps had sustained. One anonymous official reported that some buildings were destroyed, while others suffered heavy or light damage or were unscathed. Abu Jandal stated that bathrooms, the kitchen, and the mosque were hit in the strike, but the camps were not completely destroyed. Berger claimed that the damage to the camps was "moderate to severe," while CIA agent Henry A. Crumpton later wrote that al-Qaeda "suffered

17069-520: The effectiveness of North Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery, which used data from S-75 radar stations However, the U.S states only 205 of those aircraft were lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles. All of these early systems were "heavyweight" designs with limited mobility and requiring considerable set-up time. However, they were also increasingly effective. By the early 1960s, the deployment of SAMs had rendered high-speed high-altitude flight in combat practically suicidal. The way to avoid this

17238-486: The embassy bombings to escape. Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi declared his country's support for Sudan and led an anti-U.S. rally in Tripoli . Zawahiri later equated the destruction of Al-Shifa with the September 11 attacks . Pakistan condemned the U.S. missile strikes as a violation of the territorial integrity of two Islamic countries, and criticized the U.S. for allegedly violating Pakistani airspace. Pakistanis protested

17407-847: The evolution of SAMs, improvements were also being made to anti-aircraft artillery , but the missiles pushed them into ever shorter-range roles. By the 1980s, the only remaining widespread use was point-defense of airfields and ships, especially against cruise missiles . By the 1990s, even these roles were being encroached on by new MANPADS and similar short-range weapons, like the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile . Surface-to-air missiles are classified by their guidance , mobility, altitude and range . Missiles able to fly longer distances are generally heavier, and therefore less mobile. This leads to three "natural" classes of SAM systems; heavy long-range systems that are fixed or semi-mobile, medium-range vehicle-mounted systems that can fire on

17576-404: The face of bullying aggression," adding that the missile strikes sparked further planning of attacks by extremists. Operation Infinite Reach also strengthened bin Laden's associates' support for him, and helped the al-Qaeda leader consolidate support among other Islamist militant groups. The attacks also helped al-Qaeda recruit new members and solicit funds. Naftali concludes that the strikes damaged

17745-424: The famous S-75 Dvina (SA-2 "Guideline"), a portable system, with very high performance, that remained in operation into the 2000s. The Soviet Union remained at the forefront of SAM development throughout its history; and Russia has followed suit. The early British developments with Stooge and Brakemine were successful, but further development was curtailed in the post-war era. These efforts picked up again with

17914-495: The first example was a Royal Navy system known as the Holman Projector , used as a last-ditch weapon on smaller ships. The Germans also produced a similar short-range weapon known as Fliegerfaust , but it entered operation only on a very limited scale. The performance gap between this weapon and jet fighters of the post-war era was so great that such designs would not be effective. By the 1960s, technology had closed this gap to

18083-458: The first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter , as well as the unguided Taifun which was designed to be launched in waves. In general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and then flown towards them on

18252-523: The installations, but bin Laden was not present at the time. Two of the targeted camps were run by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan , which at the time was allied to the US , who were training militants to fight in Kashmir ; in all, five ISI officers were confirmed killed and at least twenty militants also died. Following the attacks, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban allegedly reneged on

18421-547: The kingdom, an al-Qaeda defector alleged that Saudis were bankrolling bin Laden, and bin Laden himself lambasted the Saudi royal family. In June 1998, Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah (Saudi intelligence) director Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud traveled to Tarnak Farms to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar to discuss the question of bin Laden. Turki demanded that the Taliban either expel bin Laden from Afghanistan or hand him over to

18590-493: The lack of conclusive evidence, had pressed for delaying the strikes until the U.S. obtained better intelligence. According to CIA officer Paul R. Pillar , senior Agency officials met with Tenet before he briefed the White House on bin Laden and Al-Shifa, and the majority of them opposed attacking the plant. Barletta notes that "It is unclear precisely when U.S. officials decided to destroy the Shifa plant." ABC News reported that Al-Shifa

18759-506: The largest against the U.S. since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings , by claiming they were in retaliation for the deployment of U.S. troops in Somalia ; he also alleged that the embassies had devised the Rwandan genocide as well as a supposed plan to partition Sudan. [REDACTED] National Security Advisor Sandy Berger called President Bill Clinton at 5:35 AM on August 7 to notify him of

18928-592: The loss of three B-52s and several others damaged in a single mission. Dramatic changes followed, and by the end of the series, missions were carried out with additional chaff, ECM, Iron Hand, and other changes that dramatically changed the score. By the conclusion of the Linebacker II campaign, the shootdown rate of the S-75 against the B-52s was 7.52% (15 B-52s were shot down, 5 B-52s were heavily damaged for 266 missiles) During

19097-561: The media and alerted bin Laden. The option of using commandos was discarded, as it required too much time to prepare forces, logistics, and combat search and rescue . Using helicopters or bombers would have been difficult due to the lack of a suitable base or Pakistani permission to cross its airspace, and the administration also feared a recurrence of the disastrous 1980 Operation Eagle Claw in Iran . While military officials suggested bombing Kandahar , which bin Laden and his associates often visited,

19266-694: The meeting at Khost. Clinton flew back to Washington, D.C. from his vacation at Martha's Vineyard , speaking with legislators from Air Force One and British Prime Minister Tony Blair , Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak , and Sharif from the White House. Clinton announced the attacks in a TV address, saying the Khost camp was "one of the most active terrorist bases in the world." He emphasized: "Our battle against terrorism ... will require strength, courage and endurance. We will not yield to this threat ... We must be prepared to do all that we can for as long as we must." Clinton also cited "compelling evidence that [bin Laden]

19435-473: The meeting later disagreed whether or not the intelligence indicated bin Laden would attend the meeting; however, an objective of the attack remained to kill the al-Qaeda leader, and the NSC encouraged the strike regardless of whether bin Laden and his companions were known to be present at Khost. The administration aimed to prevent future al-Qaeda attacks discussed in intercepted communications. As Berger later testified,

19604-443: The mid-1960s, almost all modern armed forces had short-range missiles mounted on trucks or light armour that could move with the armed forces they protected. Examples include the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) and 9K33 Osa (SA-8), MIM-23 Hawk , Rapier , Roland and Crotale . The introduction of sea-skimming missiles in the late 1960s and 1970s led to additional mid- and short-range designs for defence against these targets. The UK's Sea Cat

19773-450: The missile's envelope and thereby greatly reducing their effectiveness in ground-attack roles. MANPAD systems are sometimes used with vehicle mounts to improve maneuverability, like the Avenger system. These systems have encroached on the performance niche formerly filled by dedicated mid-range systems. Ship-based anti-aircraft missiles are also considered to be SAMs, although in practice it

19942-476: The missiles hit. Bill Gertz writes that the earlier arrest of Mohammed Odeh on August 7, while he was traveling to meet with bin Laden, alerted bin Laden, who canceled the meeting; this meant the camps targeted by the cruise missiles were mainly empty the day of the U.S. strike. Lawrence Wright says the CIA intercepted a phone call indicating that bin Laden would be in Khost, but the al-Qaeda chief instead decided to go to Kabul . Other media reports indicate that

20111-595: The move, and short-range man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). Modern long-range weapons include the MIM-104 Patriot and S-300 systems, which have effective ranges on the order of 150 km (93 mi) and offer relatively good mobility and short unlimbering times. These compare with older systems with similar or less range, like the MIM-14 Nike Hercules or S-75 Dvina , which required fixed sites of considerable size. Much of this performance increase

20280-484: The negotiations stalled by August. Around the same time, the U.S. was planning its own actions against bin Laden. Michael Scheuer , chief of the Central Intelligence Agency 's bin Laden unit (Alec Station), considered using local Afghans to kidnap bin Laden, then exfiltrate him from Afghanistan in a modified Lockheed C-130 Hercules . Documents recovered from Wadih el-Hage 's Nairobi computer suggested

20449-658: The opening of the Cold War, following the "Stage Plan" of improving UK air defences with new radars, fighters and missiles. Two competing designs were proposed for "Stage 1", based on common radar and control units, and these emerged as the RAF's Bristol Bloodhound in 1958, and the Army's English Electric Thunderbird in 1959. A third design followed the American Bumblebee efforts in terms of role and timeline, and entered service in 1961 as

20618-497: The operation also sought to damage bin Laden's infrastructure and show the administration's commitment to combating bin Laden. The Khost complex, which was 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Kabul, also had ideological significance: Bin Laden had fought nearby during the Soviet–Afghan War , and he had given interviews and even held a press conference at the site. Felix Sater , then a CIA source, provided additional intelligence on

20787-537: The operation, denied charges it provided a safe haven for bin Laden, and insisted the U.S. attack killed only innocent civilians. Mullah Omar condemned the strikes and announced that Afghanistan "will never hand over bin Laden to anyone and (will) protect him with our blood at all costs." A mob in Jalalabad burned and looted the local UN office, while an Italian UN official was killed in Kabul on August 21, allegedly in response to

20956-431: The operation. Following the attack, U.S. surveillance aircraft and reconnaissance satellites photographed the sites for damage assessment, although clouds obscured the area. According to The Washington Post , the imagery indicated "considerable damage" to the camps, although "up to 20 percent of the missiles ... [had] disappointing results." Meanwhile, bin Laden made calls by satellite phone, attempting to ascertain

21125-400: The opposite direction back into the beam. The first historical mention of a concept and design of a surface-to-air missile in which a drawing was presented, was by inventor Gustav Rasmus in 1931, who proposed a design that would home in on the sound of an aircraft's engines. During World War II , efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was generally considered that flak

21294-545: The over $ 10 million in proceeds to fund Chechen opposition forces. Pakistani missile scientists studied the recovered Tomahawk's computer, GPS , and propulsion systems, and Wright contends that Pakistan "may have used [the Tomahawks] ;... to design its own version of a cruise missile." The September 9 State Department cable also claimed that "the U.S. strikes have flushed the Arab and Pakistani militants out of Khost," and while

21463-436: The plant that reputedly bolstered the U.S. case against Al-Shifa. U.S. intelligence also purportedly researched the Al-Shifa factory online and searched commercial databases, but did not find any medicines for sale. U.S. officials later acknowledged that the evidence cited by the U.S. in its rationale for the Al-Shifa strike was weaker than initially believed: The facility had not been involved in chemical weapons production, and

21632-872: The potential for civilian casualties. Al-Qaeda had begun reconnoitering Nairobi for potential targets in December 1993, using a team led by Ali Mohamed . In January 1994, bin Laden was personally presented with the team's surveillance reports, and he and his senior advisers began to develop a plan to attack the American embassy there. From February to June 1998, al-Qaeda prepared to launch their attacks, renting residences, building their bombs, and acquiring trucks; meanwhile, bin Laden continued his public-relations efforts, giving interviews with ABC News and Pakistani journalists . While U.S. authorities had investigated al-Qaeda activities in Nairobi, they had not detected any warnings of imminent attacks. On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda teams in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam , Tanzania, attacked

21801-677: The precise number of casualties inflicted by the missile strikes. Bin Laden bodyguard Abu Jandal and militant trainee Abdul Rahman Khadr later estimated that only six men had been killed in the strikes. The Taliban claimed 22 Afghans killed and over 50 seriously injured, while Berger put al-Qaeda casualties at between 20 and 30 men. Bin Laden jokingly told militants that only a few camels and chickens had died, although his spokesman cited losses of six Arabs killed and five wounded, seven Pakistanis killed and over 15 wounded, and 15 Afghans killed. A declassified September 9, 1998, State Department cable stated that around 20 Pakistanis and 15 Arabs died, out of

21970-528: The prince that they had miscommunicated and he had never agreed to give the Saudis bin Laden. In Turki's account, Omar lambasted him when he protested, insulting the Saudi royal family and praising the Al-Qaeda leader; Turki left without bin Laden. The Saudis broke off relations with the Taliban and allegedly hired a young Uzbek named Siddiq Ahmed in a failed bid to assassinate bin Laden. American diplomatic engagement with

22139-730: The resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. Von Axthelm published his concerns in 1942, and the subject saw serious consideration for the first time; initial development programs for liquid- and solid-fuel rockets became part of the Flak Development Program of 1942. By this point serious studies by the Peenemünde team had been prepared, and several rocket designs had been proposed, including 1940's Feuerlilie , and 1941's Wasserfall and Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling . None of these projects saw any real development until 1943, when

22308-707: The same argument applies to other types of UAVs : they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account, not to mention the risk of loss of personnel. As demonstrated in Libya in 2011 and prior conflicts, cruise missiles are much more difficult to detect and intercept than other aerial assets (reduced radar cross-section, infrared and visual signature due to smaller size), suiting them to attacks against static air defense systems. Surface-to-air missile The first attempt at SAM development took place during World War II , but no operational systems were introduced. Further development in

22477-570: The same conclusions as the Germans regarding flak, the U.S. Army started its Project Nike developments in 1944. Led by Bell Labs , the Nike Ajax was tested in production form in 1952, becoming the first operational SAM system when it was activated in March 1954. Concerns about Ajax's ability to deal with formations of aircraft led to greatly updated version of the same basic design entering service in 1958 as

22646-456: The same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category. Guidance systems vary. Examples: These are subsonic missiles that weigh around 500 kilograms (1,102 lb) and have a range of up to 300 km (190 mi). Examples: The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high-value targets such as ships, command bunkers, bridges and dams. Modern guidance systems permit accurate attacks. As of 2001 ,

22815-610: The sample did not contain Fonofos, arguing that Fonofos has a distinct ethyl group and a benzene group, which distinguish it from EMPTA, and that the two chemicals could not be easily confused. Tests conducted in October 1999 by Idris' defense team found no trace of EMPTA. Although Tenet vouched for the Egyptian agent's truthfulness, Barletta questions the operative's bona fides, arguing that they may have misled U.S. intelligence; he also notes that

22984-486: The site's security and purported links to bin Laden backed the intelligence community's view that the Al-Shifa plant was producing chemical weapons and associated with terrorists. With the help of an Egyptian agent, the CIA had obtained a sample of soil from the facility taken in December 1997 showing the presence of O-Ethyl methylphosphonothioic acid (EMPTA), a substance used in the production of VX nerve gas , at 2.5 times trace levels. (Reports are contradictory on whether

23153-455: The small group again on August 17 regarding possible targets in Afghanistan and Sudan; on August 19, the al-Shifa pharmaceutical facility in Khartoum , Sudan, al-Qaeda's Afghan camps, and a Sudanese tannery were designated as targets. The aim of striking the tannery, which had allegedly been given to bin Laden by the Sudanese for his road-building work, was to disrupt bin Laden's finances, but it

23322-418: The smallest to the largest generally include identified as friend or foe (IFF) systems to help identify the target before being engaged. While IFF is not as important with MANPADs, as the target is almost always visually identified prior to launch, most modern MANPADs do include it. Long-range systems generally use radar systems for target detection, and depending on the generation of system, may "hand off" to

23491-530: The soil was obtained from within the compound itself, or outside.) The collected soil was split into three samples, which were then analyzed by a private laboratory. The agent's bona fides were later confirmed through polygraph testing; however, the CIA produced a report on Al-Shifa on July 24, 1998, questioning whether Al-Shifa produced chemical weapons or simply stored precursors, and the agency advised collecting more soil samples. Cohen and Tenet later briefed U.S. senators on intercepted telephone communications from

23660-438: The sound of which gave it the nickname of "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug". Accuracy was sufficient only for use against very large targets (the general area of a city), while the range of 250 km (160 mi) was significantly lower than that of a bomber carrying the same payload. The main advantages were speed (although not sufficient to outperform contemporary propeller-driven interceptors) and expendability. The production cost of

23829-550: The start, the large scale bomber raids of 1944 would have been impossible. The British developed unguided antiaircraft rockets (operated under the name Z Battery ) close to the start of World War II , but the air superiority usually held by the Allies meant that the demand for similar weapons was not as acute. When several Allied ships were sunk in 1943 by Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz X glide bombs , Allied interest changed. These weapons were released from stand-off distances, with

23998-446: The strike was delayed to maximize secrecy, thus missing bin Laden. Scheuer charges that while the U.S. had planned to target the complex's mosque during evening prayers to kill bin Laden and his associates, the White House allegedly delayed the strikes "to avoid offending the Muslim world". Simon Reeve states that Pakistani intelligence had informed bin Laden that the U.S. was using his phone to track him, so he turned it off and cancelled

24167-516: The strike's victims were Pakistani militants bound for the Kashmiri insurgency, rather than al-Qaeda members; the operation killed a number of ISI officers present in the camps. A 1999 press report stated that seven Harkat Ansar militants were killed and 24 were wounded, while eight Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen members were killed. In a May 1999 meeting with American diplomats, Haqqani said his facilities had been destroyed and 25 of his men killed in

24336-560: The strikes in large demonstrations, including a 300-strong rally in Islamabad , where protesters burned a U.S. flag outside the U.S. Information Service center; in Karachi , thousands burned effigies of Clinton. The Pakistani government was enraged by the ISI and trainee casualties, the damage to ISI training camps, the short notice provided by the U.S., and the Americans' failure to inform Sharif of

24505-417: The strikes were called off due to various factors, including questionable intelligence and the potential for collateral damage. Similarly, CIA-employed Afghans planned six times to attack bin Laden's convoy but did not, citing fears of civilian casualties, tight security, or that the al-Qaeda chief took a different route. Thus, Operation Infinite Reach was the only U.S. operation directed against bin Laden before

24674-723: The strikes. Iran's Supreme Leader , Ali Khamenei , and Iraq denounced the strikes as terrorism, while Iraq also denied producing chemical weapons in Sudan. The Arab League , holding an emergency meeting in Cairo , unanimously demanded an independent investigation into the Al-Shifa facility; the League also condemned the attack on the plant as a violation of Sudanese sovereignty. Several Islamist groups also condemned Operation Infinite Reach, and some of them threatened retaliation. Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin stated that American attacks against Muslim countries constituted an attack on Islam itself, accusing

24843-506: The strikes. Thousands of anti-U.S. protesters took to the streets of Khartoum. Omar al-Bashir led an anti-U.S. rally and warned of possible reciprocation, and Martha Crenshaw notes that the strike "gained the regime some sympathy in the Arab world ." The Sudanese government expelled the British ambassador for Britain's support of the attacks, while protesters stormed the empty U.S. embassy. Sudan also reportedly allowed two suspected accomplices to

25012-429: The superpower missed ... The missile strikes were his biggest publicity payoff to date. The outcome was considered a political and strategic victory for al-Qaeda. The Taliban announced within a day that bin Laden had survived the attacks, which Wright notes strengthened his image in the Muslim world "as a symbolic figure of resistance" to the U.S. Bin Laden had prominent support in Pakistan, where two hagiographies of

25181-403: The upper hand. By the time of Operation Linebacker II in 1972, the Americans had gained critical information about the performance and operations of the S-75 (via Arab S-75 systems captured by Israel), and used these missions as a way to demonstrate the capability of strategic bombers to operate in a SAM saturated environment. Their first missions appeared to demonstrate the exact opposite, with

25350-536: The war, The Soviet Union supplied 7,658 SAMs to North Vietnam, and their defense forces conducted about 5,800 launches, usually in multiples of three. By the war's end, the U.S lost a total of 3,374 aircraft in combat operations. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 5.6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. The S-75 missile system significantly improved

25519-519: The weapons in their air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) configuration. Cruise missiles can be categorized by payload/warhead size, speed, range, and launch platform. Often variants of the same missile are produced for different launch platforms (for instance, air- and submarine-launched versions). Guidance systems can vary across missiles. Some missiles can be fitted with any of a variety of navigation systems ( Inertial navigation , TERCOM , or satellite navigation ). Larger cruise missiles can carry either

25688-477: Was a closely held secret until 1955. Early versions of the missile were available for purchase as early as 1952, but never entered operational service. The RSD 58 used beam riding guidance, which has limited performance against high-speed aircraft, as the missile is unable to "lead" the target to a collision point. Examples were purchased by several nations for testing and training purposes, but no operational sales were made. The Soviet Union began development of

25857-681: Was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the USAF and Navy. The truck-launched versions, and also the Pershing II and SS-20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, were later destroyed under the bilateral INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the USSR. The British Royal Navy (RN) also operates cruise missiles, specifically the U.S.-made Tomahawk, used by the RN's nuclear submarine fleet. UK conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by

26026-655: Was an early example that was designed specifically to replace the Bofors 40 mm gun on its mount, and became the first operational point-defense SAM. The American RIM-7 Sea Sparrow quickly proliferated into a wide variety of designs fielded by most navies. Many of these are adapted from earlier mobile designs, but the special needs of the naval role has resulted in the continued existence of many custom missiles. As aircraft moved ever lower, and missile performance continued to improve, eventually it became possible to build an effective man-portable anti-aircraft missile. Known as MANPADS ,

26195-512: Was concerned the Pakistanis would shoot down the cruise missiles or airplanes if they were not notified, but also feared the ISI would warn the Taliban or al-Qaeda if they were alerted. In Islamabad on the evening of August 20, Ralston informed Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Jehangir Karamat of the incoming American strikes ten minutes before the missiles entered Pakistani airspace. Clarke also worried

26364-419: Was designated as a target just hours in advance; Newsweek stated that the plant was targeted on August 15–16; U.S. officials asserted that the plant was added as a target months in advance; and a U.S. News & World Report article contended that Al-Shifa had been considered as a target for years. Clinton ordered an investigation into the evidence used to justify the Al-Shifa strike, while as of July 1999,

26533-416: Was designed to boost to 28 km (17 mi) altitude and glide a distance of 280 km (170 mi), but test flights in 1934 and 1936 only reached an altitude of 500 metres (1,600 ft). In 1944, during World War II , Germany deployed the first operational cruise missiles. The V-1 , often called a flying bomb , contained a gyroscope guidance system and was propelled by a simple pulsejet engine,

26702-559: Was ever completed. The project was finally abandoned in favor of ICBM development. While ballistic missiles were the preferred weapons for land targets, heavy nuclear and conventional weapon tipped cruise missiles were seen by the USSR as a primary weapon to destroy United States naval carrier battle groups . Large submarines (for example, Echo and Oscar classes) were developed to carry these weapons and shadow United States battle groups at sea, and large bombers (for example, Backfire , Bear , and Blackjack models) were equipped with

26871-633: Was mounted atop an unpiloted bomber-sized aircraft that was packed with explosives to be released while approaching the target. Bomber-launched variants of the V-1 saw limited operational service near the end of the war, with the pioneering V-1's design reverse-engineered by the Americans as the Republic-Ford JB-2 cruise missile. Immediately after the war, the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects, including would-be cruise missiles. All but four were cancelled by 1948:

27040-545: Was not connected to bin Laden. The $ 30 million Al-Shifa factory, which had a $ 199,000 contract with the UN under the Oil-for-Food Programme , employed 300 Sudanese and provided over half of the country's pharmaceuticals , including medicines for malaria , diabetes , gonorrhea , and tuberculosis . A Sudanese named Salah Idris purchased the plant in March 1998; while the CIA later said it found financial ties between Idris and

27209-415: Was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a flak shell is fairly small, and the chance of delivering a "hit" is essentially a fixed percentage per round. In order to attack a target, guns fire continually while the aircraft are in range in order to launch as many shells as possible, increasing the chance that one of these will end up within the lethal range. Against

27378-420: Was phased out with the advent of submarine launched ballistic missiles that did not require the submarine to surface in order to launch the missile and guide it to its target. The United States Air Force's first operational surface-to-surface missile was the winged, mobile, nuclear-capable MGM-1 Matador , also similar in concept to the V-1. Deployment overseas began in 1954, first to West Germany and later to

27547-505: Was planning to mount further attacks" in his rationale for Operation Infinite Reach. The missiles were launched three days after Clinton testified on the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal , and some countries, media outlets, protesters, and Republicans accused him of ordering the attacks as a diversion. The attacks also drew parallels to the then-recently released movie Wag the Dog , which features

27716-460: Was removed as a target due to fears of inflicting civilian casualties without any loss for bin Laden. Clinton gave the final approval for the attacks at 3:00 AM on August 20; the same day, he also signed Executive Order 13099, authorizing sanctions on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The Clinton administration justified Operation Infinite Reach under Article 51 of the UN Charter and Title 22 , Section 2377 of

27885-579: Was seen generally; in November 1943 the Director of Gunnery Division of the Royal Navy concluded that guns would be useless against jets, stating "No projectile of which control is lost when it leaves the ship can be of any use to us in this matter." The first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. In February, Friederich Halder proposed

28054-705: Was the Kalibr missile which entered production in the early 1990s and was officially inducted into the Russian arsenal in 1994. However, it only saw its combat debut on 7 October 2015, in Syria as a part of the Russian military campaign in Syria . The missile has been used 14 more times in combat operations in Syria since its debut. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union was attempting to develop cruise missiles. In this short time frame,

28223-486: Was the first time the United States acknowledged a preemptive strike against a violent non-state actor . U.S. intelligence wrongly suggested financial ties between the al-Shifa plant, which produced over half of Sudan's pharmaceuticals, and Osama bin Laden ; a soil sample collected from al-Shifa allegedly contained a chemical used in VX nerve gas manufacturing. Suspecting that al-Shifa was linked to, and producing chemical weapons for, bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network,

28392-473: Was to fly lower, below the line-of-sight of missile's radar systems. This demanded very different aircraft, like the F-111 , TSR-2 , and Panavia Tornado . Consequently, SAMs evolved rapidly in the 1960s. As their targets were now being forced to fly lower due to the presence of the larger missiles, engagements would necessarily be at short ranges, and occur quickly. Shorter ranges meant the missiles could be much smaller, which aided them in terms of mobility. By

28561-433: Was weak." According to Risen, some dissenting officials doubted the basis for the strike, but senior principals believed that "the risks of hitting the wrong target were far outweighed by the possibility that the plant was making chemical weapons for a terrorist eager to use them." Senior NSC intelligence official Mary McCarthy had stated that better intelligence was needed before planning a strike, while Reno, concerned about

#414585