Dramatic battle in Fallujah

[White_Bear]

Thanks God they are alive :)


In another intense battle that lasted nearly five hours, one of two armored vehicles sent to resupply a front-line Marine position got lost during an ambush and ended up nearly a kilometer (half mile) inside the city.


There the vehicle, with 20 Marines inside, came under an even larger ambush. At least 100 gunmen opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, hitting it at least 10 times, knocking out its communications and its engine, paralyzing it.


"They've been preparing for this the whole time ... We definitely stumbled into the wasp nest," said Captain Jason Smith, who was at the position meant to be resupplied.


The Marines in the armored vehicle fled into a nearby building for cover, where they waited for rescue, throwing back grenades that insurgents tossed over the wall and listening to gunmen whisper outside.


A rescue force, backed by four tanks, wandered the streets in search of the beleaguered vehicle, finally finding by following the plume of black smoke in the sky. "We were fireing in a 360 degree radius," said Lt. Joshua Glover, part of the team that reached the vehicle. While F-15 warplanes strafed the area for cover, he striken armored vehicle was hooked to a tank and dragged away.

[SeanAshi]

So whats going on in Najaf al Sadr going down?

[American Patriot]

So everyone is alive?

[SerbPVO]

Hard to belive, though good to hear.

What kind of "armored vehicle" was this?

[White_Bear]

yes,they were rescued without any loses.They were hit ten times...So they were lucky;))

There will be no battle in najaf,moktada just ran away and nobody knows where is he.

[Ratamacue]

Hard to belive, though good to hear.

What kind of "armored vehicle" was this?

Probably an AAV7.

http://www.aefdesigns.com/US_Military/KA-110.jpg

[UkrainianAmerican]

Holy f*cking ****.
No casualties?
SICK! (In a really good way :D )

[ExtraT]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)

[Jack Mehoff]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)

Israel made AAV7?

[IDFM203]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)Actualy I am not sure...in the bradleys yes indeed there is Israeli Rafael armor (as well as some elbit elctrconics ;) ) but I am not sure it is in this

Shalom :D

[ExtraT]

Actually, I think it's AAV7 that has the Israeli armor. Specifically these "steps" on the sides.

[SR15]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)

Israel made AAV7?

more info plz.

[ExtraT]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)

Israel made AAV7?

No, just the armor.

[ExtraT]

Here is some info I just found. It seems like a pretty interesting article, BTW:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/BMM.htm

Here is the quote on topic:



The AAV-7A1 vehicle hull provides oniy limited front and side protection against small arms (7.62 mm beyond 300 meters) and only limited overhead protection against artillery fragments (105 mm at 15 meters).9 With the addition of the Enhanced Applique Armor Kit (EAAK), a bolt-on system built in Israel, this level of armor protection was significantly improved (14.5 mm beyond 300 meters on the sides and 152/155 mm at 15 meters overhead).

[White_Bear]

yea,you were right - it was AAV :))))

damn,they killed in that hell many insurgents,maybe someday we will see a film about them because this was dramatic story..

there you have a full story about this amazing fight. :)

interesting that they used armoured humvees to rescue them.



US marine officer recounts dramatic rescue in Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) Apr 14, 2004
A US marine officer described Wednesday how his troops battled into the heart of Fallujah and killed some 20 insurgents to save a group of fellow soldiers.
"We definitely stumbled into a wasp's nest," Captain Jason Smith of the First Battalion-Fifth Marine's Bravo company said of the four-hour rescue launched around 4:00 pm (1200 GMT) Tuesday.

"There's definitely a lot more organized resistance out there," he said, adding that he believed his troops had killed some 20 fighters.

Smith described how two Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) had tried to flush out snipers just beyond their lines in southeastern Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim bastion where a shaky five-day-old truce was extended for 48 hours Wednesday despite US air strikes and heavy clashes.

However, the mission went awry when the insurgents hit the AAVs with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), Smith said.

Desperate to escape the onslaught, one of the AAVs sped deep into the city's hostile southwestern area -- further than any marine platoon had ventured.

Between 50 and 100 insurgents starting firing RPGs and small arms at the errant AAV, whose engine burst into flames.

The 20 men inside the US vehicle took shelter in a house and set up defensive positions with M-16 assault rifles and SAW and GOLF machineguns, Smith said.

Rebels fired RPGs and lobbed hand grenades inside the house and the marines frantically threw them back out, Smith said.

The stricken AAV sent up a column of grey smoke into the sky, which the rescue team -- about 30 marines in six armoured humvees from a quick reaction force and four tanks -- used to locate its position.

Around 700 Iraqis, and more than 80 US soldiers, have been killed in fighting in Iraq over the past nine days, mostly in and around Fallujah.

[obd]

Im reading "Thunder Run"by David Zucchino who is a pulitzer winning war correspondant who fought alongside the 2nd brigade of 3rd infantry division which launched the famous "thunder run" as the tankers call it into Baghdad... Some M1 Abram took over 10 hits from RPG's and survived..... In all, estimated that over 1,000 Iraqi's KIA in the initial run and one American tank commander named "Booker" was KIA and two were wounded badly to be evacuated... One was shot through the lung and arm by one 7.62 slug... The other had a 7.62 pass through the side of his head and blow out his right eye.......both survived...

Its a great book... Very intense fighting and very brave and well executed tank run into Baghdad which proved with properly trained men tanks can effectively, and devestatingly, fight infantry in cities and win..........kind of reversed US Army doctrine to keep tanks out of cities...

[IDFM203]

Here is some info I just found. It seems like a pretty interesting article, BTW:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/BMM.htm

Here is the quote on topic:



The AAV-7A1 vehicle hull provides oniy limited front and side protection against small arms (7.62 mm beyond 300 meters) and only limited overhead protection against artillery fragments (105 mm at 15 meters).9 With the addition of the Enhanced Applique Armor Kit (EAAK), a bolt-on system built in Israel, this level of armor protection was significantly improved (14.5 mm beyond 300 meters on the sides and 152/155 mm at 15 meters overhead).
Thanks for that link and also I see you proved what you said before.

Good job :D

Shalom :D

[catdat]

Rebels fired RPGs and lobbed hand grenades inside the house and the marines frantically threw them back out, Smith said.

Thank god those rebels don't know the propper way to use a grenade.

[Obergefreiter]

No worries, Al jezzera says the battle will be ver in 24 hours.

Who wants to start the betting? :D

[dacanadianbomb]

Wow, Al that fire , all those rpgs, and noone was killed. That is that I would call a miracle. Its a miracle in a very good way though.

I wonder what first hand accounts will say. AS a civilian the media makes it sound as if you couldnt take a step outside your door without getting blown away. That makes these stories even more unbelievable. The guys who grabbed the nades to toss them back-respect.

I wonder what the psychological effects of situations like this are on soldiers that got lost.

[gilgoul]

They can thank Israeli made armor for that.

I think the stocks of Rafael (I thinks it's made by Rafael) just jumped up :)

Israel made AAV7?

Nope, they wouldn`t commit this beautiful piece of ****, but they dressed it with some extra armour that finally made it resistant to 14.5mm AP and to a certain extent improved it`s capacity to take RPG s on certain angle, reducing the losses