Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The enemy appears to be using various weapons fired at the same time to down copters.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. officials' recent statements that sophisticated weapons and tactics played a role in a series of helicopter downings have cast a spotlight on insurgent claims of new, deadly ways to attack Americans.
It remains unclear, however, if the insurgents have managed to get their hands on new weapons, or if they are merely using a combination of previous weapons in new and effective ways.
Either way, the U.S. military has said it is working to adjust tactics to fight off any more such attacks. The U.S. military relies heavily on helicopters to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs -- the deadliest weapon in the militants' arsenal. Any new dangers to aviation would be a serious challenge, especially as the Americans boost their forces in the Baghdad area as part of a new offensive.
At least seven U.S. helicopters have crashed or been forced down by hostile fire since Jan. 20, killing 28 troops and civilians.
At first, U.S. military officials said they believed luck and coincidence were mostly responsible for the string of attacks. But in recent days, three top U.S. officers have said there are signs that insurgents used a range of clever weapons and tactics in at least some cases.
On Wednesday, chief military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said insurgents had used "sophisticated" weapons to shoot down a U.S. Marine transport helicopter on Feb. 7, killing all seven service members aboard.
What's suspected
Caldwell would not specify the weapons. But Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons, a deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told reporters later that "multiple weapons systems," fired at the same time, appeared to have been used in some of the helicopter downings -- a sign of what Simmons called "a thinking enemy."
In other cases, insurgents appear to have simply gotten lucky and hit helicopters with automatic-weapons fire as the helicopters chanced by, Simmons said.
The New York Times reported Sunday that in several of the downings, the multiple weapons systems had included shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and unguided rockets that can't be diverted by American helicopters' anti-heat-seeking flares.
Presumably, by firing such a range of weapons at the same time, insurgents could confuse pilots and leave them more vulnerable to getting hit.
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