- The U.S. Army has assessed that Sunni insurgents in Iraq
have obtained and deployed the advanced SA-16 anti-aircraft missile.
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- The determination was first reached in November 2003
and confirmed in Sunni surface-to-air missile attacks against U.S. Army
helicopters over the last few weeks, U.S. military sources said. The SA-16
is believed to be the most advanced Soviet-origin anti-aircraft missile
in the Sunni arsenal of at least 5,000 SAM missiles.
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- On Jan. 8, a SA-16 missile was used to down a UH-60 Black
Hawk utility helicopter. The helicopter, used for medical evacuation, crashed
and nine crewmembers and passengers were killed.
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- The SA-16, also known as the Igla-1, has both optical
and infrared guidance systems. The shoulder-fired weapon has a 5-kilmeter
range.
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- Military sources said the SA-16 is significantly more
advanced than the SA-7, which has a range of 3.5 kilometers. The SA-16
also has a more advanced guidance system that can resist helicopter counter-measures
systems.
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- "We are changing tactics on a daily basis based
on the intelligence and the operating patterns that we're seeing so that
we don't present a steady-state pattern to the enemy," Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, head of U.S. forces in Iraq, said.
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- Other missiles in the Sunni arsenal include the SA-14.
The most advanced Soviet-origin shoulder-fired SAM missile, the SA-18,
was not believed to be in either the hands of Saddam loyalists or Al Qaida.
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- A classified report by the Army Aviation Center at Fort
Rucker, Ala. said Sunni insurgents have succeeded in using a range of missiles
and rocket-propelled grenades to down U.S. helicopters. The study, first
reported on Jan. 19 in the New York Times, asserted that insurgents use
RPGs to down low-flying helicopters while reserving the SA-16 for higher-altitude
flights.
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- An RPG was believed to have downed OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance
helicopter on Jan. 2. Since Oct. 25, 2003, Sunni insurgents have shot down
nine helicopters, including an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. RPGs are
not diverted by helicopter chaff and flare systems meant for infrared-guided
missiles.
- http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/secure/2004/2_10/mi.asp
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