Hizbullah in Lebanon continues to rearm:
Lebanese troops have seized a truckload of rockets and ammunition belonging to the Hizbullah guerrillas in eastern Lebanon, security officials said Wednesday.
The shipment of Grad rockets and ammunition for automatic rifles and machine guns was seized late Tuesday at a random army checkpoint near the town of Baalbek, a stronghold for the Shi’ite Muslim militant group.
Six Hizbullah members in the truck were let go but the confiscated weapons were taken to army barracks nearby. — Jerusalem Post
Here is a Russian-made BM-21 Grad rocket launcher (sometimes incorrectly called ‘Katyusha’, which was an earlier version, dating back to WWII). It is capable of firing 40 122mm rockets in 20 seconds, striking targets up to 32 km away (20 miles, varies with rocket type). Once loaded, the launcher can be driven to the launch location where it can be prepared and fired in seconds, and then quickly removed to a hiding place. While Israel destroyed quite a number of these from the air during the war last summer, it’s not easy to catch them and even harder to do it before they launch.
The US and Israel are developing laser-type weapons to destroy these rockets in the air. An American system is available and expensive. Israel has not deployed any such system as yet, as far as I know.
The Grad rocket is 9 feet long and can deliver a 45-pound payload. It can be used to deliver explosives or chemical weapons. Although it’s old technology, it’s still deadly and — because of the lack of countermeasures — represents one of Hizbullah’s greatest threats.
Technorati Tags: Hizbullah, Grad rocket