From: Adam <""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near
the bridge">

Phil Payne wrote:
> US helicopter crash raises weapons fear
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1349585.ece
>
>
> "A US military transport helicopter crashed north of Baghdad today, the
> fifth loss in a fortnight, raising fears that insurgents have found a new
> weapon to counter US air superiority.
>
> The twin-rotor CH46 Sea Knight - a marine version of the Chinook, which can
> carry up to 25 fully equipped troops - crashed 20 miles (32km) northwest of
> Baghdad, a few days after a US spokesman conceded that the military was
> changing its tactics to counter the threat.
>
> US helicopters, already a common sight over Baghdad, have been flying in
> greater numbers in recent days as thousands of US reinforcements begin
> arriving in and around Baghdad for President Bush's troop "surge" to
> implement the increased security in Baghdad, now in its early stages."
>
>

People learn. The longer you are somewhere the more the patterns in your
operations begin to become recognised.

Possibly they are getting late model strellas but equally they could be
using some fairly simple height/distance computable sight on std hmg'es
(e.g. 14.5mm duskhas).

Stay low & fast or get to serious height. t'was ever thus wrt flying machines.

unpredictable jinking always helps. I'll see if I can turn some old tapes
into AVI'es of hueys doing the run into sarfait (Omani-Yemeni border).

I doubt a "new weapon". I feel "familiarity with US
SOP" is a more likely cause.

Adam

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