Critical Times

THE shocking toll of six American helicopters shot down in Iraq within three weeks has sparked a Pentagon inquiry into the use of surface-to-air missiles against the aircraft.
“Is there a concern? Yes, there is definitely a concern,” said a Pentagon official about the helicopter downings. “Are we looking at it closely? You bet.”
Air power is crucial to American military strategy in Iraq – roads have become too dangerous to travel along because of roadside bombs that can penetrate even the armour of a US Abrams battle tank.

The shooting down of six helicopters with the loss of 27 lives is an unprecedented success for the Iraqi insurgency and coincides with a “surge” operation of increased US troops in Baghdad backed up by Iraqi police and army.

Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the fatal attacks against US helicopters are the result of a strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft.

The documents, seized near Baghdad and said to have been drafted by al-Qa’ida in Iraq, show that the militants were preparing to concentrate on the air force. The contents of the documents are described in an American intelligence report reviewed by The New York Times.

Attacks on coalition aircraft probably will increase if helicopter missions expand during the latest phase of the Baghdad security plan or if insurgents seek to emulate recent successes, notes the intelligence report, which analyses the recent helicopter crashes.

The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that a CH-46 Sea Knight shot down 12 days ago in Anbar province, the heartland of the Sunni insurgency west of Baghdad, was the victim of a Soviet-designed surface-to-air missile (SAM). They had earlier said it had crashed because of mechanical failure.

Sea Knights are troop transport vehicles, highly identifiable because of their huge size and twin rotors. They can carry up to 24 troops, with four crew.

British, US and Iraqi sources said the missile used was a version of the “Strela” series – designed in Russia and copied by countries as diverse as North Korea and Egypt.

Investigators are focusing on which version of the Strela was used. The SAM 7 (Strela 2) is available in Iraq on the black market for $1200.

One source said: “I could teach you to use it in one day. You just wait for the green light, and the growling noise, and pull the trigger.”

The Sea Knight is more likely to have been shot down by the advanced Strela 3, or SAM 14, that locks on to the target more efficiently. But in Iraq they would cost up to $62,000 and would be used only by specially trained insurgents when the target was highly valued.

The Pentagon is concerned that the insurgents may also have access to the next-generation missile, the highly accurate Igla, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It is a sensitive issue for the US military. While the Bush administration is pointing the finger at Iran for supplying weapons to Iraqi rebels, the Iranians are unlikely to be behind the helicopter attacks. Most of the Shia attacks are sectarian on their Sunni enemies, while all the attacks on US helicopters have come from Sunni areas.

The missile technology is believed to have fallen into the hands of former Saddam supporters or their al-Qa’ida allies.

On Sunni websites, the insurgents have issued communiques from the “air defence unit of the Islamic State of Iraq” taking responsibility for the attacks.

Iraqi National Security Minister Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said in Baghdad: “Not all the American helicopters were brought down by missiles. Some were lucky shots from ground fire such as heavy-calibre machineguns.

“But the operation now going on is dependent upon both the military and their contractors flying on helicopters and there is evidence the insurgents are using missiles against them.”

The Pentagon source concurred. “Of the six helicopters that recently crashed, one flew into a telephone wire, one crashed because of unknown causes and the other four came down under fire from the ground. The last confirmed missile hit is the most worrying.”

The Sunday Times, The New York Times