July 16, 2003


SAMs over Baghdad

It was only a matter of time, I guess. A C-130 coming into Baghdad was targeted by a Surface-to-Air Missile today. No word whether it was great flying and countermeasures by the Pilot and Crew that saved it; the SAM shooter might have been too nervous/excited and just missed; or if it was a combination of both and just luck. I'm glad it was a miss, the last thing anyone needs was a success like that by the Iraqi's today.

The C-130, like most military planes, has countermeasures that can be used to defeat surface-to-air missiles. Military pilots in hostile areas also use tactics such as flying close to the ground to make it harder for missiles to hit their planes.
Well, if it had no ECM/Countermeasures gear before, you better believe it'll be getting them now. This certainly puts operations in and out of any airport in Iraq into a whole new light, any aircraft is most vulnerable to this type of attack on landing, when they have to fly a fixed pattern, especially in bad weather. Patrolling neighborhoods around airports for almost-invisible shoulder-fire SAMs will only be adding to the incredible amount of work the overworked troops in Iraq are doing now.

I think there are a lot of troops who wonder what exactly mission was accomplished. I also suspect after today, when they fnally get orders out, their preferred method of transport to the exits will be in tracked APC's to a ship waiting in the Gulf.
posted by Jo Fish on 07.16.03 at 09:56 PM





Comments:

kinda surprising. a shoulder-fired heat seaker should leave a smoke trail from its launch point. maybe our guys didn't get there in time to grab up the shooter.

I agree though, this doesn't bode well for future Herky Birds coming in low and slow.

 posted by: the mullet on 07.17.03 at 12:02 AM [permalink]

Well, according to the photos on this page, it looks like the SA-7, the weapon used in the C-130 attacks, has a very low backblast and is a two-stage design would complicate matters.

I'm not really worried about the guys landing, I'm worried about the guys taking off. You need all your power to takeoff, and if you lose an engine on takeoff, you can't exactly dump your fuel like when making an emergency landing.

 posted by: Young Freud on 07.17.03 at 02:38 AM [permalink]

Per the NYT today, turns out this is the second attempt to bring down a C-130. Swell.
First time, two SAM -7s were fired, both missed. SAM - 7s are notoriously inaccurate and it's doubtful a single hit from one could bring down a multi - engine plane like the C-130; still, who wants to find out?

 posted by: fred griffin on 07.17.03 at 01:45 PM [permalink]


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