U.S. military says copter down in Iraq

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sea Knight helicopter went down northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said, the fifth helicopter lost in Iraq in just over two weeks...."



The insurgents must have some types of anti air missle to do all these damages. If Iran is supplying the launchers, no wonder US is so pissed off about Iran lately.

aquauant said:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sea Knight helicopter went down northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday, the military said, the fifth helicopter lost in Iraq in just over two weeks...."

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The insurgents must have some types of anti air missle to do all these damages. If Iran is supplying the launchers, no wonder US is so pissed off about Iran lately.

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'.....Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, asked Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if the helicopter attacks mean "that enemy forces have achieved some higher level of capability with shoulder-fired missiles."

Pace responded that it was his understanding the choppers were shot down with small arms, not missiles. ............'

This is the fifth helicopter down within two weeks. This is bad...

Definatly has the fingerprints of Iran all over it,if the helicopters were bought down by small arms fire that would be weapons smaller than a heavy machine gun,and would neccesitate some sort of ambush to stop the helicopter simply climbing out of range or banking away,also this type of operation would require advance notice of flight plans etc.
This coupled with the recent upsurge in numbers of Iranians captured in Iraq and Irans vested interest in keeping the US engaged in Iraq.leads me to believe we will see a lot more of this, and increased attacks on US bases like the one involving assailants dressed in Iraqi police uniforms that took place recently!
Perhaps Iraq will become the battleground between Iran and The US!

Have just seen on BBCnews website that todays crash is due to mechanical failure rather than enemy action.

As a US citizen and a retired member of the USN I'm sorry Gen Pace. I do not believe you. Small arms?? Your kidding. Those "insurgents" probally have shoulder fired missiles of some sort and are using them in what seems to be an effective manner.

Central Command had better deal with this immediatley before more lives are lost.

From what I understand the biggest problem in Iraq is dealing with the Iraqi "government". many major military decisions(rules of engaugement) have to go through them to be approved.

Is it possible that projectiles being sucked into the engine could cause a fatal system failure?
And another thought, small arms might incorporate RPGs, if the copters fly low and slow at some points (they will sure not do it on transfer flight or s.th. similar) it might be enough.
But if really MANPADS were involved in all/most cases, I tend to believe the situation is really difficult. Because downplaying it (only small arms) seems even more complicated a situation than overplaying it.

Is it possible that projectiles being sucked into the engine could cause a fatal system failure?

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Yes! That's called FOD= Foriegn Object Damage.

But how low would they have to be for an RPG or other small arms fire to be accurate?

Totally agree,if were that easy to bring down helicopters,UK would have lost a lot in N Ireland,question is where are the missiles coming from?,only one answer to that really!Not indigenous stock as if it was helicopter downings would have been a regular feature of the conflict from day one!

If it really was "small arms fire" I don't believe it has been accurate, but more a lucky shot out of several.
But five in two weeks is of course a bit much to just be luck.
MANPADS are probably not that rare on the black market today. However, these must have an origin of course.