viernes, febrero 04, 2005

EL DERRIBO del avión Hércules británico en Iraq, que todos los medios se apresuraron a atribuir a los gloriosos resistentes a pesar de lo dudoso de la filmación de al-Yazira, era en definitiva un bulo parecido al del madelman. Eso opinan analistas y expertos:
A video purportedly showing the moment a British military airplane was shot down by Iraqi insurgents is almost certainly bogus, say defence specialists who studied the footage. [...]
Defence experts say the wreckage seen in the video shown is consistent with that of a Hercules C-130, but dismiss the rest of the video as a crude propaganda attempt.

"I think the video is bogus," says Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly. "The missile footage has just been grafted onto the front. And it looks like a surface-to-surface missile to me."

Jim O'Halloran, editor of Jane's Land-Based Air Defence, agrees. He says the pointed shape of the missile and the way it launched suggests it was a surface-to-surface Multiple Launch Rocket System missile, possibly the Katyusha type used by the Israeli army. He adds that such a weapon would not be effective against an airborne target. "What they're showing did not kill a C-130," O'Halloran told New Scientist. But some of the wreckage footage itself may also be suspect, as it is shot in daylight. The airplane crashed at 1635 local time, leaving just an hour before sunset for someone to reach the wreckage and start recording. The images could not have been captured the following morning, as British forces had arrived at the site by this time.
(hat tip: JBW)