Article

September 2003

Army VIP Transports Vulnerable to Shoulder-Fired Missiles

by Sandra I. Erwin

Army pilots flying VIP transport aircraft in Iraq claim that their missions are becoming unduly risky, because their planes have no protection against man-portable air-defense missiles.

The threat of manpads has been a growing concern for aviators from the B company 2nd Battalion of the 228th Aviation Regiment, who shuttle military and civilian VIPs in and out of Balad, Iraq.

The Army reserve unit—based at Fort Rucker, Ala., and Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.—has 77 of its members deployed in Iraq. It operates three C-12R1 Beechcraft King Air turbo-props and one UC-35B Cessna Citation business jet.

These are “off-the-shelf civilian business aircraft with high-gloss paint and diplomatic markings,” but they are nevertheless being flown in a combat zone, and therefore should be better protected against shoulder-fired missiles, said Chief Warrant Officer Robert F. Jones, a Beechcraft pilot instructor.

Each of the airplanes is equipped with a military transponder, but has no countermeasures against surface-to-air missiles, he said in a letter to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

“Restrictions have been put on the use of our aircraft,” said Chief Warrant Officer William Lovett, a C-12 pilot. “The manpads threat is high. One of the mitigating measures taken by our chain of command is ‘limited flying.’”

The missions in and out of Sustainer Army Airfield, in Balad, only occur in daylight hours, because the airfield is not equipped for night flying. Balad is 42 nautical miles north of Baghdad.

“Our major threat concern is from SA-7s, due to the volume of unaccounted systems, their simplicity of firing and ease of concealment,” said Jones.

One day in mid-July, “U.S. and British tactical aircraft were fired on by man-carried anti-aircraft missiles,” Jones wrote in the letter to Sessions. “Their defensive systems and evasive actions prevented a disaster. Had the same missiles been used against any of our aircraft, the crew and passengers would have died.”

So far, none of the 2/228th aircraft has been acquired or attacked. Further, B company pilots say were never trained for combat operations using these aircraft.

Pilots wonder why the Army does not follow the same policy as the Air Force, whose C-130 Hercules and C-17 cargo planes have defensive systems, as mandated by the Air Mobility Command (National Defense, August 2003, p.28). Defensive systems include infrared suppressive paint, exhaust diffusers, infrared and radar warning systems, infrared and radar jamming equipment, flare and chaff dispensers.

“Realistically, it would take months, if not years, for the Army procurement process to develop and install defensive systems on our aircraft,” said Jones. “We have been told that the Army Reserve Command has asked Congress for the funds to acquire defensive systems for our planes.”

The Army’s public affairs office in Baghdad did not respond to questions from National Defense concerning this issue.

The VIPs that the 2/228th typically fly are general officers and senior civilians from Ambassador Paul Bremer’s office, said Jones.

As a defensive tactic, helicopters patrol the Balad airfield prior to takeoffs and landings. “This may help in keeping the insurgents’ heads down,” Jones said. “However, it is not an adequate replacement for defensive systems.” All helicopters in Iraq are equipped with both offensive and defensive systems.

Before the unit was sent to Balad, most of the 2/228th flights had been from Kuwait to Baghdad and back. “We have tried to mitigate the risk by flying high and doing high speed descents and climbs,” explained Jones.

Last month, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, told the New York Times that American officials were seeking to curtail the proliferation of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles by purchasing them from Iraqis at $500 a piece.

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