Two helicopters shot down in three days...? Is there a pattern ?

[kentuck]

How long has it been since we had a chopper shot down in Iraq? I don't recall, but if they are now going after helicopters, they must have gotten their hands on some new "equipment"? Like shoulder-held rocket grenades? Or perhaps something newer? This is not good news for our troops that depend on reconnaissance by air. Just something else to think about...

[globalvillage]

1. Three in 10 days, correct?

Frightening.

[applegrove]

2. You have to wonder if those 50 calibre traser fire guns so easily

sold to Kosovo people in the USA - have made it to Iraq.

60 Minutes did a story on that.

I wonder what "supplies" the insurgents have?

Terrible!

[tabasco]

3. The Iraqis always had "shoulder-held, rocket grenades."

That's what an RPG is.

Maybe you are speculating on a shoulder-fired anti-air missile.

That would be bad news, but you don't need one to shoot down a chopper.

An RPG can shoot down a chopper within a few hundred yards (like in Mogadishu).

So can concentrated small-arms fire or a heavy machine gun.

So, no, I see no evidence of any SAMs.

If the Iraqis had SAMs, they would not use them on a 2-seater helicopter.