At Least 4,000 Missing Worldwide

American intelligence experts have tripled the number of shoulder-fired SAM missiles missing worldwide. At least 4,000 MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) owned by Saddam Hussein's military before the US-led invasion last year are unaccounted for. That makes it 6,000 MANPADS out there on the loose somewhere, according to intelligence agencies -- up from the 2,000 they previously estimated missing.

If there's any cause for relief, it's that those same intelligence agencies think the missing MANPADS systems are still in Iraq. One intelligence officer told The Day newspaper in New London (CT) that "there is no evidence that they have left the country."

How serious is the missing MANPADS situation? "No threat is more serious to aviation," said Secretary of State Colin Powell last fall. The State Department figures more than 40 aircraft have been hit by MANPAD missiles over the past 30 years or so, resulting in the downing of 24 aircraft and at least 600 deaths.

FMI: www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/manpads.htm