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Israel downing Houthi missile is first instance of space warfare
- progne 3y agoI wondered how the Saudis' felt about having missiles fired over their country. It turns out they're probably relieved that the Houthi have a new target. "Yemen’s Houthi rebels have unleashed a barrage of drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, water desalination plant, oil facility and power station, Saudi state-run media reported." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/20/houthis-launch-attacks-on-saudi-energy-desalination-facilities https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/20/houthis-launch-atta...
- xenospn 3y agoThey almost hit the formula1 circuit last year.
- brap 3y agoSaudi and Jordan have intercepted a few of these drones heading to Israel. Arab twitter is raging. Neither likes Hamas and Saudi definitely isn’t a fan of the Houthis. It’s funny how several decades ago Israel was seen as the #1 enemy of the Arab world. But now most Arab leaders see Israel as a (potential) economic partner and see Iran and its proxies as the #1 threat. The problem is that after decades of inciting their own citizens to hate Israel and Jews, they can’t really speak openly in favor of Israel or against Iran.
- caycep 3y agogranted, considering the historical rivalry for the caliphate amongst Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and Persians, I'm not all that surprised
- fsckboy 3y ago>Arabs, Egyptians, Turks and Persians and don't forget the Sunni/Shia divide, where Iran will support Hezbollah because Shia, but wind up supporting Sunni Hamas because common cause against Jewish Israel usurping a piece of what was for a long period of time Islamdom. for the deeply committed end of Islamic "church/state unity" thinking, getting back Israel is one step, but they expect Spain back too, just as they would like to "reencompass" secular moslem states.
- dragonwriter 3y ago> and don't forget the Sunni/Shia divide, where Iran will support Hezbollah because Shia, but wind up supporting Sunni Hamas because common cause against Jewish Israel usurping a piece of what was for a long period of time Islamdom. Irans support for Hamas has from the beginning also (somewhat ironically, similar to Israel’s motives for fostering Hamas in the first place) as an Islamist counterweight to the PLO and its connection to pan-Arab nationalism.
- genieyclo 3y agoSaudis shot down the Yemeni missiles, this is unironically a cover story. They even went to the US to ask them for more air defence so they can better protect Israel after it happened.
- xenospn 3y agoThere have been multiple missile attacks. Most were cruise missiles which are easy to intercept. This was a ballistic missile, which the Saudis cannot intercept.
- xenospn 3y agoGives a whole new meaning to the term “testing in production”.
- Waterluvian 3y agoI think I need to become far more informed about these matters as this is rather surprising to read. I’ve been watching Russia toddle about with their “second best in the world” equipment, demonstrating how difficult it can be. And now I’m reading that Houthi rebels have missiles that can make it outside some meaningful definition of “atmosphere”? Maybe I’m failing to understand how modern military rocketry works.
- zarzavat 3y agoIt’s not as impressive as it sounds. Weather balloons go up pretty high too. Making a rocket go straight up into space and comes down again in a ballistic trajectory is relatively easy compared to making one that goes to orbit. This is the same kind of headline that Bezos was generating when he landed a rocket from “space” - up but not around.
- WesternWind 3y agoWeather Ballons can't go beyond the atmosphere because they utilize the differential in density between the atmosphere outside the balloon and the gas inside.
- zarzavat 3y agoThe point is to illustrate the difference between going up and down, vs going into orbit (going sideways). Weather balloons go up many kilometers but they don’t go into orbit. They just go up and down. A ballistic missile, sounding rocket, or bezos pod does the same thing with a little more oomph. Making a rocket that only goes up 100km into space and then falls immediately down again is hardly brain surgery.
- The_Colonel 3y agoHouthis are Iranian proxy, so they likely got Iranian missiles (among other weapons).
- genieyclo 3y ago
- areoform 3y ago[deleted]
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoThe "accessibility of technology" included a very large helping of Iranian assistance. They weren't just googling "how to build a ballistic missile".
- brap 3y agoNever thought I would witness a war between Israel and Yemen. Fought in space, no less.
- caycep 3y ago[flagged]
- MichaelZuo 3y agoAnd it will go down in the history books too. I wonder what folks thousands of years in the future will think, just a dusty fact, or a turning point?