View Single Post
Old 03-13-2003, 05:08 AM   #23
hotrod
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 14141
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: [email protected] @ 5800 ft on 13T
Vehicle:
2002 Impreza WRX

Default slightly before the new moon

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html
MIDDLE EAST
KWI KUWAIT, KUWAIT 29 20 N 48 00 E
RUH RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA 24 39 N 46 46 E
BGW BAGHDAD, IRAQ 33 20 N 44 26 E


Time zone for Iraq is +3 east of Greenwich, or 8 hours earlier the previous day eastern standard time.

Baghdad
--- March
--- Moon
--- Rise -- Set
20 0142 1332
21 0253 1408
22 0405 1447
23 0517 1532
24 0626 1623
25 0730 1720
26 0826 1821
27 0914 1923
28 0955 2025
29 1030 2125
30 1101 2223

First militarily useful new moon would be the morning of the 20th or 21st For covert insertions etc. and for an open air offensive the 22nd to 23rd.

If they in fact use the "shock and awe" strategy they will try to achieve "time on target" bombings. Meaning they will adjust flight times of both cruise missles and aircraft bombings so they arrive on target as close to simultanously as possible. This would saturate any remaining triple A capability and maximise the disruption of the attack.

My bet is the morning of the 21st, which would be about 7:00 pm eastern time the 20th here in the US.

Total darkness is essential for the first waves of stealth aircraft to preserve their stealth. Overcast conditions could move these dates a couple each way depending on the altitude of the cloud deck.

Ground troops will be able to do short duration ground ops a couple days earlier if they can lay low somewhere following moon rise.

The opening moments of the US air strikes for the first Gulf war occured about 6:00-7:00 pm Eastern standard time here in the US.

Larry
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
hotrod is offline   Reply With Quote