What kind of weapons technology are these projectiles and their delivery systems?

The one posted last week looked like a giant shotgun blast. You can see the splashes all around the boat when it got lit up. Cluster munitions?

None of the videos showed anything entering the frame and landing on the boat. One moment it's moving, the next it's stopped and in flames.

Hellfire maybe?

No, more likely an missile with some form of VT fuze that detonates the warhead 50 feet above the boat. Given the exposed petrol tanks, that's how I'd do it

C'mon. We all know they were nuked from orbit.

Hellfire with impact fuze, laser guided. Hot shrapnel from the warhead would immediately blow up the fuel tanks. Perps on board didn't know what hit them, no time for the "awe shit" to go from the eyes to the brain. Probably launched from a helo or drone.

Eric Von Hessler has been whining about this continuously on WSB.

I absolutely DESPISE that ignorant stupid douchebag prick.

People have watched pirates in the Gulf acting with impunity for so long that they have started believing international law allows no action against them. They think you have to chase them down and try them in court. Then they see a Russian warship light them up with their version of CIWS and they think the Russians areacting crazy. Nope. Piracy or terrorism on the high seas has long been covered by maritime/intl law. We just haven’t had the stomach to act prior to this. The Barbary Pirates were a relatively tough nut to crack back in the day, today? Not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
C'mon. We all know they were nuked from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

I hope it's the Ginsu bomb (RX9).

quote:

Originally posted by hberttmank:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
C'mon. We all know they were nuked from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

My Fav Alien movie.

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
Hellfire maybe?

CBP operating out of the Gulf Coast with Predators. 2 hellfires per plane. 48 hours aloft time.

Persistence surveillance.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
No, more likely an missile with some form of VT fuze that detonates the warhead 50 feet above the boat. Given the exposed petrol tanks, that's how I'd do it

Kind of what I was thinking too. The apparent shotgun blast effect on the water is shrapnel from the warhead after an air burst detonation. There is a Hellfire variant with a blast/frag warhead and "programmable fuzing".

The warhead was sinply moving too fast to be picked up by the camera.

I cringe when Hollywood shows a missile/comet/meteor/satellite strike, they take pains to show the incoming track for effect. In reality, to those at or observing the impact site the strike would actually appear to be an explosion because the kinetic object will be moving faster than the eye can see. Maybe it leaves a trail of condensation, but that is only observable well after the strike has occurred.

Still assuming this kinetic kill was done by a Hellfire missile, most likely it was the AGM-114R variant, the current production model. It has only a semi-active laser seeker; there is no radar or variable time (VT) fuse incorporated into the missile. Why one does not see it in the video - it's traveling over Mach 1.

quote:

I hope it's the Ginsu bomb (RX9)

Not necessary in this case. The AGM-114R-9X was developed with the intent to reduce collateral damage when targeting specific people. Here they are destroying the entire boat.