Reports of first surface-to-air missile attack in Afghanistan
One of the nightmares that keep Western planners up
at night is the possibility that insurgents might get a hold of some MANPADS
(Man-portable air defense systems). The most prominently discussed is the
Stinger missile -- after all, many of the missiles the US provided to mujahideen for use against
the Soviets have never been accounted for -- but there are plenty of Russian built surface-to-air
missiles floating around that could prove disastrous in the wrong hands. Until this week, the threat of shoulder-launched missiles was the dog that hasn't barked.
Then on Sunday a C-130 transport plane was reportedly
attacked in Nimroz province with a surface-to-air missile. NATO will neither confirm nor deny the
incident, but the London Telegraph (by way of the Washington Times) reports that "The crew reported that a
missile system locked on to their aircraft and that a missile was fired. It
closed in on the large C-130, pursuing it as the pilots made a series of
violent evasive maneuvers and jettisoned flares to confuse the heat sensors in
the nose of the surface-to-air missile, or SAM." The article continues: "The
C-130 attacked in Nimroz was flying at 11,000 feet at the time of the attack,
which is within the 1.5- to 3.4-mile range of a shoulder-launched missile
system such as the SAM-7."
Taliban's failed first use of SAM still worrisome KABUL, July 29 (Washington Post/LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH): Taliban militants used a heat-seeking, surface-to-air missile to attack a Western aircraft over Afghanistan for the first time last week, coalition military sources say. The attack with a weapon thought to have been smuggled across the border with Iran represents a worrisome increase in the capability of the militants that Western commanders had long feared.
Photo: DOD: An Afghan Mujahideen demonstrates positioning of a hand-held surface-to-air missile. 26 Aug 1988
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