Missile skip off water

[Lord Grey Boots]

Has anyone else seen the video the Brits around Basra taking a missile shot at an Iraqi tank across a lake or river?

The missile skips off the water and center punches the tank, low and hard.


Show offs!

 

[Greybeard]

Did not see it. (Wish I had.) But, i think I read about it on the old errornet ... somewhere.

 

[Blackhawk]

Saw it about 5 times. Very cool!

However, I have no idea what was going on there....

 

[Blackhawk]

BTW, that was shown on Fox News....

 

[Peter Gun]

did it actually skip, or was it just that the normal "drop" of the missile leaving the launcher brought it close to the surface before it accelerated? Anyone w/ a link?

 

[Blackhawk]

It really did skip. It flew horizontally most of the way, then it descended, hit the water near the far shore with a splash, then bounced right into the target. I was astounded!

 

[dinosaur]

I saw it. Nice shot, I guess.

 

[HerbG]

It was hard to judge the range to the tank, but it must have been at least 400m. The missle appeared to hit the ground/water about 50 m. in front of the tank before impacting. I think the operator was extremely lucky to get a hit!

 

[hksw]

Yeah, saw that thing a few times already. What was really funny was when the missile almost hit that dang bird. Cracks me up every time I see it.

 

[Unisaw]

Yeah, I saw it, althought it wasn't until the 2nd or 3rd time watching that I was sure that was what had happened. It was a great clip.

 

[Braz]

Sharp eyes LGB,

I noticed that but didn't believe it until the forth viewing.

 

[QuickDraw]

Does anybody have a link?

QuickDraw

 

[635 PCSO]

Actually we were discussing this last night at the SO. The water is actually being kicked up by the escaping gases from the rocket. I thought it bounced as well, but I was corrected by a military "guy".

 

[JerryN]

We really need to see it in slow-mo. It sure looks like a skip on FoxNews.

Skipping a round off the "ground" is sometimes a good tactical decision. You can, for example, poke your shotgun around a corner and glance a round of buckshot off the ground and take out a BGs ankles. Works hella good. The shot will rise off the ground and hang about a foot off the surface, depending on angle of incidence.

 

[JimP]

Not sure it was water - looked more like mirage off the ground due to distance. Water and wire-guided missiles don't mix. For that reason, you have t have a certain height advantage over the body of water to even attempt the shot. If it truly "skipped" off the water, I seriously doubt that it could have been under guidance from the command unit.

 

[Waitone]

I saw it and immediately thought it to be a bounce shot.

Then I remembered the video of the bomb taking out a vehicle hidden under a highway bridge. My first impression of that event was the bomb skipped off the road and into the vehicle.

 

[CAP]

I thought it was a skip too the 1st 2-3 times I saw it. I think it is actually the rocket exhaust stirring up the shallow water in front of the target just before impact. I think depth perception made it look like the target was closer to the H2O than it really was.

My take on it.
It was a cool video though.

Darn fine shot either way.

 

[UnknownSailor]

I remember that clip. It's a Swingfire, IIRC, launched from that armored vehicle that the British have. I sure as hell thought it skipped; it most definitely appeared to change direction. No secondary from the tank, however.

 

[Blackhawk]

The water is actually being kicked up by the escaping gases from the rocket. I thought it bounced as well, but I was corrected by a military "guy".

That's a lot more believable than what my eyes "saw" ...!

 

[Gary H]

I think that the shot was more like 1600+ meters and the skip was an optical illusion. I base my estimate of distance on the time to target. Rather long time spent on course before waking up the tank crew. The telephoto lens may have foreshortened the perspective. Cool shot.

 

[Dannyboy]

I think it was a Swingfire missile from a British Striker. I really think that thing skipped off the water. The missile dips down and then goes up the berm on the other side before impacting.

 

[CWL]

Was it wire-guided?

I can't believe that any other type of portable missle would still be on target after hitting water.

 

[blackhawk2000]

For the record I thought it skipped too. Only saw it once.

 

[buzz_knox]

It was a Swingfire, a British wire-guided missile, their counterpart to the TOW. I thought it skipped as well when I saw it. There was a bigger splash than I'd have expected from the propellant gasses.

 

[COHIBA]

i thought it skipped, too.
my first impression was that the heat mirage caused the rocket guidance to hit low and the bounce was just pure luck.
however it breaks that was as cool as it gets in war coverage. the only thing cooler would be heraldo riding a MOAB like slim pickens.