Al Qaeda's plans for attacking choppers in Iraq

Michael Gordon, NY Times:

Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the recent fatal attacks against American helicopters are the result of a carefully planned strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft, one that American officials say has been carried out by mounting coordinated assaults with machine guns, rockets and surface-to-air missiles.

The documents, which are said to have been drafted by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, show that the militants were preparing to “concentrate on the air force.” The contents of the documents are described in an American intelligence report that was reviewed by The New York Times. Seized near Baghdad, the documents reflected the insurgents’ military preparations from late last year, including plans for attacking aircraft using a variety of weapons.

Officials say they are a fresh indication that the United States is facing an array of “adaptive” adversaries in Iraq, foes who are likely to step up their attacks as American forces expand their efforts to secure Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

“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 their recent successes,” notes the intelligence report, which analyzes the recent helicopter crashes.

The American military has said that seven helicopters have been downed since Jan. 20, a figure that exceeds the total number of coalition aircraft shot down in 2006.

After downing the helicopters, the insurgents often laid ambushes for the American ground troops they expected to come to the rescue, sometimes using roadside bombs that they placed in advance. American troops were attacked in five instances in which they rushed to the scene of aircraft that had been shot down, military officials said.

...

The insurgents try to plan their attacks by studying flight patterns near American bases and along supply routes, according to the intelligence report. In several recent helicopter downings, the attackers used a variety of weapons, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and unguided rockets that cannot be diverted by the flares helicopters disperse to fool heat-seeking systems.

Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which the intelligence report says leads the insurgent group known as the Islamic State of Iraq, has claimed responsibility for shooting down three of the helicopters. Those were the helicopters downed near Taji, Karma and in Diyala Province.

...

The article has descriptions of the recent attacks. The focus of the enemy is pretty much what I anticipated. They are using their own "combined arms" approach. By throwing up a lot of different ordinance at the same time they fire anti aircraft missiles they present the pilots with more to deal with and make it possible that something will break through the defenses.

In some ways the attacks are like the ones that Saddam's forces used in the major combat operations phase against an attack by an Apache Squadron. In that attack the Apaches were trying to attack a fixed position so it was not difficult for the enemy to predict their avenue of approach and throw considerable ordinance up to get in their way. It is possible that with their scouting, the enemy is predicting flight paths and preparing attack positions to take advantage of them.

If so it is important that pilots not only vary their approach but their altitude during operations in Iraq.