We use illicit drugs to pay for world nuclear security. Power corrupted. It is falling apart. Now something hit the Internet that has many going, "Oh, s**t." It is accurate. It blows apart so many areas of 'defense'. It is hard to argue with. If one would start to, as many do, argue against Aegis, some would counter. You cannot counter this. Nothing is said. Quotes because it came from someplace. Does not matter where.
(Quote: from someplace knowledgeable) The Problem With Proliferation: Cruise Missile Edition: March 2011. The still of the pre-dawn darkness is only slightly disturbed by the passage of a container ship. Like the many thousands of others like her plying the oceans ways, this ones cargo is neatly stacked on the deck ISO shipping containers in a multitude of colors and shippers markings. As the fog bank thickens, a radar scope is closely scrutinized on the bridge. Out here, off the shipping lanes no other merchant traffic is expected and, it would appear, neither were there any signs of fishing craft or more troubling, naval or coast guard ships. Earlier in the night a code had been passed via an internet podcast and confirmed via a secure webpage. Soon, very soon, part of the ships cargo would complete the long journey begun in Sverdlovsk. Up forward, locks are removed on two of the containers and a pair of shadowy figures enter each container. A series of muffled noises from the interior of the boxes is rapidly followed by their tops falling to one side and a brace of four tubes quickly rise to the vertical. A minute or two passes and the quiet is shattered by a series of explosions. From each tube a long, slender figure emerges atop a cloud of gases. Bright flames suddenly appear and the forms race off to the far horizon, away from the sun, still hours away from rising. NAVSTA Norfolk has been home to US naval aviation ever since Eugene Ely first flew his fragile, kite-like aircraft off a makeshift platform mounted on the anchored USS Birmingham. From her roadsted, flattops of the Essex, Midway, Forrestal, Enterprise and now the Nimitz class sortied to distant spots on the globe to carry out the missions assigned presence, deterrence, and when necessary, the fury unleashed from their decks and the holds of their escorts reinforced the determination of a free people to remain free. On this early morning, Pier 12 is brightly lit in floodlights as the two Nimitz-class carriers, USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 72) complete preparations for an emergency sortie on the tide. Both had pulled into Norfolk one day prior with their full airwing complement on board to take on one final round of provisions and the remainder of their embarked airwing personnel and equipment. Tensions have dramatically risen in the Gulf over the past few weeks following Irans declaration of nuclear capability. There had been no detonation, and some were saying it was just a boast that the Iranians were still years away from really having the capability for even a couple of weapons. Still, Israel had attempted a long-range strike only to recall it when the US threatened to expose the mission. A show of force was in order and to reinforce the two carrier presence in the Gulf (Eisenhower and Washington were already there) the Vinson was being turned back from a Hong Kong port visit and TR with Truman would join her outside the Straits of Hormuz. After launch, the boosters on the eight 3M54TE1 missiles quickly burnout, fall off and quieter turbojets take over. Guided by GPS coordinates they sped along at little over 50 ft above the oceans surface, their terminal homing radar units quiet for now. Back on the container ship, a new course is plotted, away from the launch scene. As the ship steadies up on an easterly heading, a series of explosions rip through her keel and below the waterline. The ship breaks in two, the stern section quickly sliding beneath the waves. As containers break free and plunge into the sea, the bow slowly rolls over and begins a long slow descent to the bottom. An oil slick, some debris and a few containers supported by trapped pockets of air are all that is left. There are no life boats. Farther to the west, in the operations center of NORTHCOM/NORAD a watch officer notes a disturbance and places a report. Watch supe, DSP1. I have a multiple IR event, western Atlantic off the North Carolina coast. Position 36-21 north by 74-24 west. OK initial analysis? It looks like a possible series of explosions, but there isnt anything else whatever it was happened fast. Roger initiating conference call Reaching for the intercom panel, punches up a series of buttons. All stations, NMCC, this is NORTHCOM watch with a multiple IR event report. At 0807Z DSP1 reported a multiple IR event position 36-21 north and 074-24 west request by station report STRATCOM with negative space or missile event FAA no air traffic that area Fleet Forces with a negative report on Navy units that area Homeland Defense Coast Guard reports no known surface traffic, scrambling alert C-130 SAR from Elizabeth City NORTHCOM, this is Rear Admiral Odin, NMCC anything from FACSFAC VACAPES? Looking towards the FAA rep, the NORAD watch officer catches her shaking her head NMCC, FACSFAC reporting no contacts OK NORTHCOM, report when USCG C-130 airborne and ETA area of concern. Pass to FAA to re-route traffic to keep area clear Navy have anything that can get out there fast for a quick look? Fleet forces negative, most of our fast flyers are already loaded and Oceana is limited ops due to fog NMCC copies all call me back in five minutes with an update and COAs Crossing the coastline, the missiles radar altimeters make a quick check and cruising altitudes are adjusted accordingly. Cruising at .8M the eight missiles quickly cross over Lynnhaven inlet, passing NAS Oceana to the left and the empty piers of Little Creek Amphib base to the right. A waypoint is reached and 2 pair of missiles pitch up and all 8 terminal seekers turn on. A pair of Hawkeye maintainers from VAW-120 on their way out to the flight-line for launch preps stop, startled at first by the sound then the sight of dark forms whistling by in the gloom. Moments later the sky to their right erupts in flame, followed by a series of concussive thunderclaps rolling across the ramp, shattering glass and setting off car alarms in the parking lot. Successive explosions follow as the remaining missiles complete their dives. The waterfront is a horror of flame, smoke and twisted metal, the likes of which havent been seen in almost three-quarters of a century. Roosevelt is ripped apart above the hangar deck level, an inferno of flames where her island and midships should have been. One missile had struck the base of the island, another had penetrated to the hangar bay through the open bay doors, exploding amidst pack of aircraft. A third had completed its dive in the vicinity of where the six-pack should have been. Across the pier, Truman was similarly damaged and at a nearby pier, two other missiles had found their mark in the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) and USS Ramage (DDG 61). Explosions from burning aircraft and from deep inside the mortally wounded ships continued to rain fire and shrapnel around the harbor area. The tail section of an F/A-18E was embedded in the superstructure of the USS Hue City (CG 66), her mast bent and broken by the nearby hits on the two destroyers, her decks filled with flaming debris. Later that day, a C-130 from Elizabeth City CGAS flies over a sea speckled by the color of floating containers. No sign is found of the ship carrying them, nor of any survivors from that ship. Fiction you say? Perhaps for now. However, given long-running trends and recent events, the threat to deployed forces, afloat and ashore, has continued to grow in size and capabilities. And now, the nightmare of many a defense analyst is coming to the light of day the ability to conduct an attack on the homeland in a manner that is directly unattributable to one or more nations . . . for you see, the Russian arms manufacturer, Novator , through a front company , is offering the Club-K system, a four-tube launcher, plus all support facilities, inside a standard ISO shipping container: (unquote)
