KavkazCenter - Six American helicopters have crashed or been shot down in the past 19 days

Six American helicopters have crashed or been shot down in the past 19 days

Two helicopter crashes near Baghdad are the latest in a spate of a half-dozen downings that strongly suggest insurgents have adapted their tactics to make helicopters more vulnerable and are putting more effort toward shooting down U.S. aircraft, American officials say. Six American helicopters have crashed or been shot down in the past 19 days - including a Marine CH-46 Sea Knight crash Wednesday that killed seven people - the largest number of helicopters lost in such a short period since the invasion,- The New York Times writes. The latest helicopter loss came as U.S. officials confirmed that the new U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad was under way. U.S. armor rushed through the streets, and Iraqi armored personnel carriers guarded bridges and major intersections. At checkpoints that seemed to have been thrown up overnight, Iraqi police and soldiers searched cars at random. Adding to the tension, Iraqi army and police convoys fired into the air above motorists, warning them to make way for passing forces. U.S. Apache attack helicopters whipped the air above parts of the city where they hadn't typically been seen. The recent rash of helicopter crashes indicates that Iraq's insurgents have become smarter about anticipating American flight patterns and finding ways to use old weapons to down helicopters. Those aircraft, many of which were equipped with sophisticated anti-missile technology, still can be vulnerable to more conventional weapons fired from the ground. Details about the downed Sea Knight, which crashed into an open field in an insurgent-heavy region northwest of Baghdad, were sketchy Wednesday night. Witnesses said the aircraft appeared to have been shot down, but some military officials suggested that the crash might have been caused by a mechanical failure. In addition to that crash, U.S. officials discussed a previously unreported crash Jan. 31 in which a helicopter operated by a private security firm and flown in support of the State Department was forced down 10 miles south of the capital after insurgents attacked it with heavy-caliber ground fire as it flew from Hillah to Baghdad. After the helicopter crash-landed, a second aircraft set down and evacuated the stranded passengers and crew. Four other fatal downings of American helicopters since mid-January killed at least 20 people, and military officials have suggested that were all caused by small-arms fire. In some cases, however, witnesses indicated that missiles had been fired from the ground. U.S. officials emphasize that a new sense of coordinated aggressiveness on the part of insurgents toward attacking aircraft, or even luck, might be playing as large a role in the high pace of crashes as improved skill and tactics among insurgent triggermen. "I do not know whether or not it is the law of averages that caught up with us," said Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during Senate testimony Tuesday. Another possibility, he said, was that there had "been a change in tactics, techniques and procedures on the part of the enemy." A senior military official said Wednesday that, although the incidents were still under investigation, the rash of helicopter shoot-downs appeared to be part of an insurgent strategy to inflict heavier losses on U.S. forces at the start of the new push on the part of the Americans to secure Baghdad. "There is certainly the expectation here that insurgents are trying to inflict some losses as we're building up forces as a means to try to discourage the Iraqis and us that this is a futile plan," the official said. Part of the explanation for the successful attacks, one official said, might be that fighters are simply firing more at low-flying helicopters. In recent years, there has been relatively little small arms fire against helicopters, the official said. One Air Force commander in Baghdad said the recent crashes appear to largely be the result of old weapons that have long been available in Iraq and not an influx of new hardware or technology. "I haven't seen anything like that," the commander said. The Sea Knight, the aircraft that crashed Wednesday, is a large transport helicopter that is easily distinguished by its twin rotors, one mounted near the cockpit and one mounted on a tall tail at the back. Military officials said the victims included five Marines and two from the Navy. An Internet message from an insurgent group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq took credit for shooting down the helicopter, the latest in a string of crashes the group has claimed credit for. U.S. military officials emphasized that the investigation was scrutinizing a possible mechanical failure along with other potential causes. KC