Second shooting down of an American aircraft in three days

[kpete]

US helicopter crashes near Baghdad Mon Jan 16, 3:26 AM ET


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. helicopter crashed just north of Baghdad on Monday, witnesses and the military said, in what appeared to be the second shooting down of an American aircraft in three days.


The U.S. military confirmed that the helicopter went down but was still investigating the cause of the crash. A military spokesman had no comment on the fate of the crew or the type of helicopter.

Earlier, witnesses said the aircraft went down after coming under rocket fire in the small town of Mishahda. One witness said U.S. troops surrounded the crash site, where smoke was rising.

Rebels in northern Iraq apparently shot down an armed U.S. reconnaissance helicopter on Friday, killing its two pilots, in a rare instance of American air power being challenged by guerrillas on the ground.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060116/ts_nm/iraq_helicopter_dc

[leftchick]

1. it is actually the third shot down in a week

Juan Cole predicted this would happen. But then it was pretty easy to figure out that SA-14s would start showing up...



A military spokesman had no comment on the fate of the crew. It was the third helicopter to be lost in little over a week.

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-16T121310Z_01_L14609110_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml

[HereSince1628]

2. Just more proof the opposition is getting better supplied which

although could be dumb luck, also implies more formal organization.

[farmbo]

3. Yikes! Let's hope the Insurgents don't have Igla (shoulder-fired) missiles

http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/igla.htm

Russian Ilga-1 shoulder-fired surface to air missile specs:

Model: 9K310. Year: 1981. Country: Russia. Department of Defense Designation: SA-16. ASCC Reporting Name: Gimlet. Article Number: 9K310. Popular Name: Igla-1. Launch System: Igla-1. Complex: 9K310. Missile: 9M313.

First version of the Igla missile deployed. Quickly replaced by the more-capable standard Igla.. Also produced in Bulgaria, North Korea.Development of the Igla man-portable surface-to-air missile began in 1971. The development program was protracted, and conducted in two phases. The Igla-1 9K310 with the 9M313 missile was accepted by the military in 1981. As opposed to the Strela, the missile used not just the force of its warhead against its target, but also the explosive potential of any remaining solid propellant. In comparison to the Strela-2 the Igla-1 could intercept targets by overtaking them, as well as on an intercept course. The operation of the system was simplified, with the launcher signaling to the operator the best moment for launch. An IFF interrogator was included in the launcher to prevent inadvertent destruction of friendly aircraft.

Total Mass: 11 kg. Core Diameter: 0.067 m. Total Length: 1.69 m. Span: 0.16 m. Standard warhead mass: 2 kg. Maximum range: 4 km. Boost Propulsion: Solid rocket, dual thrust. Guidance: Cooled Infrared/Ultraviolet Homing. Maximum speed: 2,030 kph. Minimum range: 1 km. Ceiling: 5,000 m.
<snip>

There was a big flap in the World media (ignored here) that Russia may have been shipping Iglas to Syria last year:

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/01/18/008.html

These things are lethal against fixed wing and rotary aircraft.

Bad juju!

[KharmaTrain]

4. Remember Those No Fly Zones...

The ones we patrolled for well over a decade and not a single American plane was lost? Despite, according to Crashcart, endless attempts by Saddam/Al Queda/Hamburgler/Insert Your Boogieman Here. Guess that wasn't good enough.

The corproate media is afraid to report these kind of stories. When they do, the wingnuts slam them for "printing nothing but the bad news"...in the meantime another dozen American families get knocks on the door. Total waste of life and treasure.

[lectrobyte]

5. But shooting down a helicopter is probably much easier than a

jet fighter. Helos are much slower, lower, and are particularly vulnerable, especially landing or taking off. The "Blackhawk Down" helicopters were shot down with just RPGs after all. Not that I'm in favor of no-fly zones or invading/occuplying other countries, just pointing out that there's much more risk of losing a helicopter to ground fire of various sorts.

[KharmaTrain]

6. I Think You Missed My Irony

My coffee must not be working well enough this morning. So far I think we've lost 200 or so troops in these helicopter shootdowns...losing 10 to 12 at a time. Yes, those helicopters can be sitting ducks to a well-trained fighter with an RPG or some other anti-aircraft missile. Actually I'm surprised more aren't shot down...that was some of the most demoralizing damage the Mujahadin did to the Soviet...made them afraid to get into any convoy for fear of ambush, afraid to get in any helicopter for fear of being shot down.

Cheers...

[lectrobyte]

7. Sorry, my irony detector is a tad coffee-short as well. We are in

violent agreement, as they say.