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Q : Can you tell us about the -- what the Israelis have done, a test missile shot that went flying over a couple of American ships? And is there a view from the Pentagon that perhaps they might have told the Navy that a missile was coming their way and --
ADM. QUIGLEY: Yeah. The incident you're referring to is the firing, I believe it was April 6th, of a Jericho short-range ballistic missile from Israel out into the Eastern Mediterranean. And there was no notification made in the sense of a notice of mariners or something of that sort that we've been able to discern, at least. And the parts of the Jericho as it terminated its flight came down within 25-40 miles of the cruiser Anzio, U.S. Navy cruiser Anzio that was in that vicinity, part of the Enterprise battle group, I believe.
I would be quick to point out that the Israelis broke no law in doing this. They are certainly entitled to practice firing Jerichos or another system. But it is a more common practice, I think, to file that notice to mariners to ensure safety and knowledge that there's going to be an inherently dangerous event over a certain piece of the ocean and that other nations and navies and commercial shipping and whatnot can be advised and to stand clear of the area.
Q : Did the ships see the missile coming?
ADM. QUIGLEY: Yes.
Q : And they just said, Oh, a missile coming our way. Did they come to battle stations? Did they --
ADM. QUIGLEY: I don't know on the general quarters status. But, I mean, the Anzio is an Aegis cruiser, has the Aegis combat system on board. And it was -- the missile was detected almost immediately after launch, which is one of the capabilities of that system. Another capability of the Aegis combat system is to predict trajectory given what you've seen so far. And it was pretty clear from the predicted trajectory that this was not going to hit Anzio. And so it was tracked. I don't know on the general quarters status of the crew, however.
Q : You don't know whether -- that did cause a bit of a stir on the bridge of a ship when you see a missile coming at you from the Middle East.
ADM. QUIGLEY: Sure, it caused a bit of a stir on the bridge of that ship. I mean, even though your combat system will tell you that it was not aimed directly at you, this is an event you had no warning of in advance, and it certainly gets your undivided attention until you can figure out exactly what you're looking at and what the circumstances are.
Q : Has the U.S. filed a demarche on this?
ADM. QUIGLEY: No. No. I would just -- again, I would say that this is not something that's in violation of law at all. But it is --
Q : But it is a violation of international custom --
ADM. QUIGLEY: We would hope that there would be some sort of a notification and a publication of such an event in the future so that shipping would be well advised to stay clear of that area.
Q : Well, short of a demarche, has the U.S. government said anything to Israel about this?
ADM. QUIGLEY: I don't know that through diplomatic channels there is any initiative being taken, no.
Q : And military channels?
ADM. QUIGLEY: I don't know that, either.
Q : Was the Anzio there to monitor the test?
ADM. QUIGLEY: No, the Anzio was one of a couple, I believe, of U.S. Navy ships that were actually in the area to engage in exercises within that part of the Mediterranean.
Q : Didn't the missile actually --
ADM. QUIGLEY: We had no foreknowledge of the test shot.
Q : Didn't the missile actually go over the Eisenhower, for example? The Eisenhower was closer to shore than was the cruiser, although at a slightly different angle.
ADM. QUIGLEY: I'm not sure of the exact trajectory, John. I'll see if I can get that for you, but I'm not sure of exactly -- I think the closest proximity of parts that actually came down after the shot would be that 25-40 mile range. But I'm not sure in the intervening flight path.
Q : And was the carrier engaged in flight ops, which would be a further hazard, not only to the ships, but to the aircraft that are operating in the area?
ADM. QUIGLEY: I'll see if we can find that as well.
Q : And what's the range of this missile, the Jericho missile?
ADM. QUIGLEY: We've got a fact sheet on the missile at the news desk, but I don't have it here with me. It's termed a short-range ballistic missile. It's been in the Israeli inventory for some 30 years, I believe.
Q : Were there other ships in the area other than U.S. warships that this missile or the debris may have come closer to than that? I mean, that's a busy area.
ADM. QUIGLEY: I don't think so. If they were in the area at all, I'm not sure. But I think the closest that any vessel came to the debris coming down was the U.S. Navy vessels that were there. But if there were any merchants or fishing vessels anywhere in the vicinity, I don't know that. I'm not sure that we will know that.
Q : But countries all along the Mediterranean can launch missiles into the Mediterranean all day without warning, and that's hunky-dory?
ADM. QUIGLEY: Well, you see many nations around the world launching missiles both over land and over water. It's incumbent upon the nation to do the best they can to try to make sure that the intended flight path of the weapon is clear of any obstructions and is safe. And that's something that's just a common procedure followed by all nations.
The way you described there is simply not the way that it happens, although, again, I would say that there's certainly no violation of law here at all.
Q : Is there any reason to believe that Israel made sure that their path was clear or that the landing area, the area where this missile came down, was going to be clear?
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03-12-2006, 20:47
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