Military Acknowledges Aircraft Lost To Hostile Fire

US military leaders in Iraq, acknowledging for the first time four helicopters and their crews lost over the last two weeks in Iraq were shot down, have directed new tactics for flight operations in the country.

All four choppers were brought down by enemy fire during a recent increase in violence, and follows boasts in December by Sunni militants of new stocks of anti-aircraft weapons including Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), or shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft missiles. The US has accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to Shiite militants, although it's unknown if those included MANPADS.

Military officials have said insurgents in Iraq are using a Russian-made MANPADS designated the SA-7 Grail by NATO. The Grail is a relatively unsophisticated weapon, but has been highly proliferated on the world's underground arms markets.

Older versions of the Grail must engage a target from behind, as the weapon's guidance systems uses an infrared seeker to home on the heat of an aircraft's exhaust. Although the system is rather easily fooled by standard countermeasures -- high-intensity flares which fool the seeker head -- a crew must know the weapon has been fired in time to deploy them.

Newer versions of the missile are capable of head-on shots, and once locked on a target, are much better able to differentiate between heat sources making flare countermeasures less effective.

Marking the first admission by a senior military official in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell admitted the crashes of four helicopters -- three Army and one private -- were "the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire."

Caldwell told the Associated Press fears of an increased threat to US aircraft are "premature," and that insurgents have targeted helicopters since operations in the country began. Without elaborating, presumably for security reasons, Caldwell says the military is "already making adjustments" in it's tactics and techniques and procedures.

Standard tactics to avoid ground fire including small-arms, anti-aircraft artillery and MANPADS -- the presumed weapon used to down the choppers -- includes the use of radar and infrared jamming technology, flying lower and faster, varying routes and "jinking," whereby a pilot continuously varies headings and altitudes to confuse enemy gunners.

Because MANPADS have a relatively short range and require an operator have time to initiate the weapon, aim it, and get a lock on a target, flying lower and faster are generally considered most effective against them. Jamming equipment requires the crew know a missile is inbound, and chopper crews sometimes station gunners at open doors who also act as spotters to warn pilots of ground fire. Jinking is generally ineffective in avoiding a guided weapon once it's locked and fired, but violent maneuvering as an approaching missile nears the aircraft can sometimes result in a miss.

The al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for the latest crash last Friday in which two crewmembers died when their Apache Longbow helicopter (file photo below) went down north of Baghdad. In an internet statement, the group brags insurgents have "new ways" of confronting US aircraft without specifically identifying any new weapons or tactics.

Recent bombings in the Iraqi capitol of Baghdad have made the past several weeks among the bloodiest since the US occupation began. US and Iraqi military forces are preparing for another bid to put down insurgents in the city and quell the sectarian violence destabilizing the elected government.

President Bush has said he wants to send more troops to the region to aid a struggling Iraqi government. That plan has met with stiff resistance in the US congress.

FMI: www.pentagon.mil, www.state.gov, www.senate.gov, www.house.gov