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we were lucky in that the rain and hail stayed away so just the cold to contend with, difficult bowling with no feeling in the fingers. apart from the odd Wednesday or Monday during the bowling season and Thursdays during the domino season i am free as long as i have taken my medication, occasionally forget and that is despite having post it notes to remind me. mind you our next bowls match is not until May 20th, we have a bye on the 13th of may and the various bank holidays as well so about five weeks until i pick up a bowl again, so hopefully the weather will have warmed up a bit. might be tempted to try another bitter shandy, Wednesday was the first alcoholic drink i have had for almost twelve months. got hooked on lemonade with a splash of lime during the off season and not missed beer at all. alcohol tolerance gone right down the tubes (two bitter shandies and i am everybody's these days)

Seems after decades of mass tourism to the Med, locals have had enough. I remember over 30 years ago telling a group of Greeks, that tourists will destroy their cultural heritage, but alas they placed income ahead of outcome, and suffered the annual event of drunken Brits despoiling their culture. Seems now they've finally absorbed the wealth and are reacting to this annual migration. 😠

Sounds very responsible of the Iranians, but I doubt it will sate Israeli desire to be number one in the M/East and involve the US. Seems Biden has given them permission to assault Raffa, " in a humanitarian manner"; an impossibilty that will see even more women and kids slaughtered. 😢

Reckon foxes like a bit of duck in their diet Sid so not surprising he was hanging about. Yes there were some big showers Wednesday night, and the bowlers at Cadishead had to pause their game when the green got completely covered in a layer of hailstones. They won their first match btw after being promoted to the higher league but given most of them are essentially beginners they doubt they’ll be quite so successful this season. We’ll have to try and arrange a proper sit-down beer sometime and have a better catch up. Wednesday and Fridays I have to play designated driver but I’m free the rest of the week. Bill 😊

It looks like Israel had finally responded with a limited missile strike against specific military / weapon production sites targets rather than the countries capital. Not much actual news coming out just yet, but the mobile phone footage did show significant burning on the ground and explosions in the sky. The Iranians said they’re not that worried and aren’t planning any further response so a bit of hope there that this is an end to it. Bill 😊

As I said Bill, let's wait and see what happens and just hope it doesn't reach our little part of the world. The reason the IDF jets need the space, is to have time to shoot down the drones outside their own SAM defence zone, otherwise they may get hit by their own SAMs. An Israeli strike on Iran will probably be delivered via submarine, as their jet don't have the range. 😢

I don’t believe everything I read on the net Obs, I might get some info from it, but my thoughts are my own and I think are based mainly on logic and common sense. The idea being put out on the web and suggested by yourself was that Iran’s on to a winner by having loads of weaponry that cost next to nothing while Israel will bankrupt itself trying to defend against such a huge onslaught. Look what actually happened though, do the sums and in all probability, exactly the opposite is closer to the truth. I can’t see why the IDF would need to overfly other countries BTW unless they decided to make some kind of attack. If they were to do something like that, then they’d probably just use ballistic missiles, but these would likely be a lot more accurate and sophisticated that what Iran used against them. It’s also been suggested that they may use cyber tech that could be just as damaging, and this wouldn’t surprise me in the least. As for comparisons with the Ukraine, well it’s a very different situation out that way so meaningful comparisons are just not possible. Too late for all this sort of stuff. My glass is as empty as my head. Goodnight from me. Bill 😊

Think your first sentence should apply to you Bill ! Israel is an extremely small and confined area, and I doubt IDF aircraft will be allowed to overfly neighbouring arab countries, thus limiting their attack time, and no doubt their airfields would be targeted too. In Ukraine, the SAM systems have all but been wiped out, using this tactic. Still, pointless to speculate at this stage, but better to await the fireworks to come. And it will be no longer rocket science, when the rockets run out ! 😑

You don’t want to believe everything you read on the web Obs. Some of the media seem to be using assumptions rather than facts in order to create a headline grabbing story and I suspect the reality wouldn’t be half as interesting. The Israeli military aren’t stupid. They might have some of the best and most expensive weaponry around but they’re not going to be using multimillion dollar devices when a pea shooter can do the job equally as well. Take the Iranian drones for example. Being propeller driven, they’re extremely slow, making them a doddle for a modern air force to shoot down. Target lock, burst of cannon fire and move onto the next. The drones might be cheap but they’re nowhere as cheap as bullets so in this case it’s guaranteed to be costing the Irans more. Cruise missiles are a hell of lot more expensive but they’re not super-fast either, or particularly agile and so can be taken out by the most basic heat seeking SAM or AAM. The cruise will typically cost well over a million while the missiles that shoots them down would be cost about a twentieth of that. Just like the drones, none of these reached their target so again it would have cost Iran more. Each Iron Dome missile cost £47k (about the same as a standard heat seeking SAM) so I doubt a Shahab2 Iranian intermediate range missile is going to cost any less? On top of that, Iron Dome uses some cleaver AI to identify each incoming missile, assigning higher priorities to any heading for sensitive or populated areas. Those that it calculates will miss are simply ignored and allowed to fall to ground harmlessly, thus saving on costs. Leaving aside the cost of implementing Iron Dome, the cost of the missiles it used would have been less than less that it cost Iran. I’m not saying the IDF didn’t used any of the more expensive stuff in this exchange but cost wise it’s certainly not quite as one sided as some make out. It's not exactly rocket science. 😂 Bill 😊

The drones are there merely to absorb the defence, at a cheaper cost ratio, the cruise, and more so, the ballistics are there to take out targets. We can wait and see the next fireworks show, and see who has the most missiles and funding to sustain them. 😑

that fox turned up again later on bold as brass. was good to see you again and a brief catch-up to compare ailments like us older people tend to do.... had a good game once that wind dropped and it warmed up to just under -10c or thereabouts...❄️ surprised this morning at the frost on the rooves around here didn't think it was that cold when i got in last night. (so much for global warming).

Good to catch up with you last night Sid after such a long time and just a pity there wasn’t enough time for me to have a pint and a proper natter. I told the bowls guys at the other place about your duck issue, and they all had a good laugh. Bill 😊

Surface to air missile sites together with their radar are mobile affairs otherwise they’d be useless. But they don’t even need these because the drones are so slow that the jets own radar has ample time to identify them and knock them out like a duck shoot. The bottom line is that the current drones and even the cruise missiles represent little more than an annoyance. The Iron Dome sites are also mobile and don’t even have to be located at the target site due to having a range of over 40km. So, if Iran thinks they know where these are, they’d better think again. There’s no doubt that Israel’s streets ahead with the technology and if they were to respond with the same number of missiles, Iran wouldn’t fare well and both sides know this. There’s no doubt either that Israel started all this and in my mind that makes them the aggressor. Iran have basically said they’re prepared to call it quits so any further action by Israel would only make matters worse. Bill 😊

The Iranians will now have a clear picture of the location of radar sites, which lit up to monitor the drones, so can now programme their ballistic missiles accordingly. Alas, the Israelis. led by Zionist fanatics, are destined to take this all the way, as they simply can't afford to lose their dominance in the Region gifted by technical superiority, which made them feared. But with the equalisation of weaponary, that fear factor has now gone, and this has dented any sense of Israeli superiority (although they won't admit it). They simply have to remove anyone who can stand up to them, but in the case of Iran, they require US assistance; so they will continue on a suicidal course of creating a Regional war in the M/East by dragging the US into it, which then means the involvement of Russia and the probability of WW3. So when the proverbial hits the fan and the sirens sound, and you place your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye; take comfort in getting what you wanted ! btw. Con - the attack on the Iranian Embassy was "an act of war", which legally provides for a response in kind. 😑

I think your logic’s a bit screwed up there Obs. It doesn’t matter how many drones they had or how cheap they were because they proved to be just cannon fodder and missile practice for the air force. Long range water pistols would have probably been more effective. If the jets can shoot them all down with just bullets then it’s probably going to cost Iran more. As for the 30 or so cruise missiles, well they’re not cheap but again the jets took them all down just as easily as our aircraft did with the German V1 flying bombs. An expensive and futile waste by Iran. I suppose Iran could always send them a bill for the target practice. 😊 What Iran seem to have plenty of is the medium range missiles similar to what they supply to Hamas and others. I don’t know what they cost, but they won’t exactly be cheap, possibly the same as the very much smaller missiles that Iron Dome uses. And if that’s the case, there’s probably no point or economic advantage for Iran but it does make for a good firework show. The only thing that did get through was the long-range ballistic missiles and they’re definitely not going to be cheap to keep firing off. It’s not quite so easy to shoot these down but by all accounts they haven’t quite yet got it right and the majority of them failed to even reach Israel. As holes go, the one near the runway was a mega expensive one for Iran. Bill 😊

Everyone assumes that attacking an embassy or consulate breaks the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, like you did Obs. The Iranians should take it up with Syria because the Convention is purely bi-lateral and the Israelis were committing something but it was wasn't breaking that convention because the establishment was not in Israel. There is a lot of inventing effects of International law going on these days. It often assumes someone has the power to intervene and punish one party or another which isn't always true. (See Putin)

Well, judging by the night sky pictures on the news, those aircraft didn't down that many ! Of the 7 ballistic missiles, all 7 got through to hit their targets, the strike has no doubt identified SAM sites and radar targets for next time. The estimated cost to Israel is over a $billion in SAM costs, which is unaffordable and not easily replaceable, so if Iran has the quantity of drones and missiles, it will win in the case of attrition. Just a note on the response of HMG, Sunack complained of the numbers of drones etc, as if it was relevant, without any condemnation of the Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, despite it being an act of war, and contrary to the Vienna Convention, ignored by the UN; who seem to believe that the West (US) can make the rules, but also break them as it suits. btw. I'm sure if Iran doesn't have hyper-sonic missiles, they will soon be supplied with them by Russia and China, just like we are supplying Ukraine ! 😑

That was not what I said, I said that the taking out of drones was most likely done by aircraft. No weapons system has a 100% success rate, ever. So I didn't say anything other that the fact of how many did get through. You suggest that they got through and swamped the iron dome. That is not at all clear, Iron Dome is for protecting civilian concentrations as I understand it and did seem to work. I think the pictures around were the of the system working near Jerusalem. There has been plenty of practice over the years and it is worth remembering that the launchers are mobile. Iran does not have hypersonic missiles, that's your mates in Russia who say they have those, as do the Chinese.

Remote as in out in the desert. Bill

They weren't "remote airfields" Bill; they were the airfield used for the Damascus raid. plus an intell site that organised it. 😑

Iran couldn’t just ignore Israel’s blowing up of their consulate otherwise it would be a green light for more of the same from the IDF. Iran made it clear they’d response but said that it would be a telegraphed one-off event and they had no intentions to escalate the situation so it's upto Israel what happens next. Iranian forces aren’t stupid and would know that most of what they threw at Israel wouldn’t have made it through. They’d have needed to throw the kitchen sink at them if their intention was to inflict harm but as it stands, Iran has gained significant intelligence about Israel’s defence system that would be useful to them if things escalate. As Confused rightly says, conventional drones at that range and would be easy meat for the fighter jets and cruise missiles wouldn’t fare much better either. The Iron Dome took care of most of the rockets and I doubt the Israelis are particularly bothered how much each of these missiles cost. The ballistic missiles on the other hand seem to be the main ones that got though, but fortunately, these were only used against remote airfields rather than densely populated areas. Interestingly I was reading the other day about all new British made anti-missile laser system that’s currently being installed on our warships. This is said to capable of intercepting drones and missiles at the cost of just £10 per shot but it's still a long way off a photon torpedo. Dragon Fire Laser Bill 😊

So. on the basis of your theory, none of the drones should have got past Iraq ! The reality is, that they did, and swamped the Israeli air defence system, with a pretty fireworks display in the Israeli sky. But the missiles that were intended to get through, the hyper sonics, did get through and hit their intended targets. This means that the iron dome is not fool proof and Israel no longer immune from such strikes. No doubt the Israelis will now be worried and will no doubt seek to destroy Iran's ballistic missiles, but this may prove difficult, as they will be deep underground in the Iranian mountains. The temptation of course, will be for the Israelis to use their nukes, which takes us closer to WW3. 😑

On reporting that Iran "meant to fail" in its attack, and that it had given advanced warning of its strikes, Mr Kirby (US National Security Council spokesman) says this is "categorically false". Over 300 devices launched 7 got through. Drones are an asymmetric threat but you need to understand that you have used a falsehood to determine what lesson is to be learned. The key difference was surely that there was a two hour transit time for the drones and they had to cross friendly airspace during that time. The launch would have been detected by an AWACS and fighter jets used to take the drones out at lower cost than you believe, since the target tracking will have been airborne. The situation is entirely different from Ukraine where air superiority between launch point and the targets is not in the hands of the defender.

What's amazed me about the reaction to the Iranian attack on Israel, is the idea that sending high numbers of drones and missiles, is in itself, an over reaction to the original Israeli attack on the Iranian Consulate. Israel, has the most protected air space in the World, known as the "Iron Dome", with a comprehensive anti-missile defence system. What the Iranians have done, with this attack, for which they gave advanced warning to the US; is demonstrate that the "Iron Dome" system can be overwhelmed, thus making Israel vulnerable to such an attack. As shown in Ukraine, the modern tactic for overwhelming a missile defence is to shower it with relatively cheap drones, which are designed to soak up expensive defensive missile strikes, while cruise missiles and new hyper-sonic missiles reach their targets. So, with drones costing around $2,000, they are drawing SAM systems, costing over a $million each. Thus in a war of attrition, each attack would cost Israel $billions and they would soon run out of SAM missiles. So this Iranian strike was designed to send a message, at no cost to human life, that the small land area of Israel can be completely destroyed by such attacks. Will Israel take the message ? I doubt it. Though by now, they've realised they are in a no win situation, their extreme political view will drive them to further extremes. 😢

I’ve had a little go in the past but these days it’s out of the question due to the problems I have with my fingers and wrist. I can barely hold a cup of tea with my right hand so a bowling ball’s out of the question. Bill 😊