Downed aircraft spur shift in tactics

[thedrifter]

HELICOPTER ATTACKS IN IRAQ <br />
Downed aircraft spur shift in tactics <br />
5th crash since Jan. 20 kills 7 <br />
<br />
By James Janega, Tribune staff reporter; Tribune correspondent Liz Sly,...

[thedrifter]

Posted on Thu, Feb. 08, 2007
Loss of another chopper illustrates vulnerability

By ROBERT H. REID
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed in flames Wednesday in a field northwest of Baghdad, killing all seven people aboard -- five Marines and two Navy personnel, the U.S. military said. It was the fifth U.S. aircraft lost in less than three weeks and the latest sign of growing problems with aviation in Iraq.

A U.S. military statement gave no reason for the crash of the CH-46 Sea Knight, which went down in Anbar province near Fallujah, about 20 miles from Baghdad. However, three Marine Corps officials said the troop-transport helicopter was in flames when it went down, and it appeared that the pilot attempted to land but lost control as the aircraft descended.

They said witnesses in nearby Marine aircraft saw the flames but saw no sign that it involved hostile fire.

An Iraqi air force officer, however, said the helicopter was hit by an anti-aircraft missile. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information.

An Iraqi farmer who lives about a half-mile from the crash site said he heard a missile being fired moments before the crash, which took place in an insurgent-infested region.

"The helicopter was flying and passed over us, then we heard the firing of a missile," the farmer, Mohammed al-Janabi, said. "The helicopter then turned into a ball of fire. It flew in a circle twice and then went down."

In a statement posted on an extremist Web site, the Islamic State in Iraq, a group linked to al Qaeda, claimed it shot down the helicopter, which it described as a Chinook -- an Army helicopter that resembles a Sea Knight.

Critics have long urged the military to replace the CH-46, which was introduced in 1964 at the start of the Vietnam War.

Regardless of the cause, the latest crash adds urgency to a U.S. military review of flight operations in Iraq, including whether insurgents have perfected skills in attacking U.S. planes. One reason may be that they are using more sophisticated weapons.

The U.S. military relies heavily on helicopters in Iraq, not only for supporting ground forces in combat but also to move troops and equipment by air to avoid roadside bombs and insurgent ambushes.

In another development:

More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months -- at least 334 through Jan. 31 -- than in any comparable stretch since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records. Roadside bombs were responsible for about 70 percent of U.S. deaths.

The increasingly urban nature of the war is reflected in the fact that more U.S. deaths have been in Greater Baghdad lately.

The frustrating fact about the hunt for a solution to the roadside bomb is that the U.S. military has improved its ability to find and disarm them before they detonate, and it has outfitted troops in better body armor.

But the insurgents still manage to adjust with new tactics in planting the bombs, more powerful explosives, different means of detonating them and a seemingly endless supply of materials.

Ellie