The US military covered up a reported surface-to-air missile strike by the Taliban that shot down a Chinook helicopter over Helmand in 2007 and killed seven soldiers, including a British military photographer, the war logs show.What does all this mean?
The strike on the twin-rotor helicopter shows the Taliban enjoyed sophisticated anti-aircraft capabilities earlier than previously thought, casting new light on the battle for the skies over Afghanistan.
Hundreds of files detail the efforts of insurgents, who have no aircraft, to shoot down western warplanes. The war logs detail at least 10 near-misses by missiles in four years against coalition aircraft, one while refuelling at 11,000ft and another involving a suspected Stinger missile of the kind supplied by the CIA to Afghan rebels in the 1980s.
But if American and British commanders were worried about the missile threat, they downplayed it in public – to the extent of ignoring their own pilots' testimony. The CH-47 Chinook was shot down on 30 May 2007 after dropping troops at the strategic Kajaki dam in Helmand where the British were leading an anti-Taliban drive. Witnesses reported that a missile struck the left rear engine of the aircraft, causing it to burst into flames and nosedive into the ground. All on board died, including 28-year-old Corporal Mike Gilyeat of the Royal Military Police.
It means that I'm a homer for all things USA.
Apple pie, the red white and blue....hot dogs...Ford trucks...etc....
But I'm not stupid either.
The US Military and the DoD in particular will cover up facts that will either...cause alarm to the public...cause the public to question the war....or cause the political class to lose even more favor.
All three of these apply with the latest shoot down. I said earlier that I doubted that our guys would fly into RPG ambushes. Lex called it even more precisely and stated flat out that it had to be an anti-air missile. Now we have Grand Logistics bringing this article to our attention.
Long story short.
The Taliban have anti-air missiles and our helo forces need to change tactics to account for that fact.
It probably was a MANPAD missile and flight behavior needs to adjust to this threat, but I would not be seriously surprised if it turned out to be an RPG. One way to get 100% accuracy does not involve shooting it OUTSIDE the helo.
ReplyDeleteIt would not be the first time one of our Afghan allies flipped.