Stormy we still tend to think of the Taliban being a bit backward and only good for sneaky ambushes etc - the fact is that they are a sophisticated bunch well financed and supplied and trained by others who are financed by the rest of us when we fill up our gas guzzlers.....bit circular really...it will happen more and more..! Cheers
I am not aware that there is any official confirmation that the Chinook was shot down. The Taliban also claimed to have shot down XV230! I'd prefer to wait til the outcome of any investigation. Regardless of the cause of the crash, RIP. Roxy
These were young men doing a job they were selected trained for and enjoyed - their death is a tragedy to the SF community - let us hope the politicians don't make a cause celebre of a heavy loss - though compared to WWII or WWI not a huge one. We should also recall that the Russians learnt to their cost the vulnerability of the helicopter in transitional flight and that the Afghans on both sides are a warrior race who have a long tradition of war against bigger opponents - they beat us Brits a few times! RIP to a team of brave men of all nationalities and the war-dog as well
Low level,slow moving aircraft such as helicopters are always vunerable to ground fire.The option to use helicopters for infantry transport was to avoid the improvised explosive devices.The initiative will always be with the irregular with his mode of warfare.Cannot say that I have seen the use of I.R missile heat flare protection in use by helicopters. Further,if those on the ground are equipped with simple reliable weapons and operate in mufti,its going to be a hard slog.No matter what the politicans say,it appears hard to find a solution as others have found in the past.
I wonder if the NOK were informed before someone decided to say that some of the SF were part of the team involved in killing Bin Laden.
I wonder if the NOK were informed before someone decided to say that some of the SF were part of the team involved in killing Bin Laden. Hello Drew, What is the NOK? I can't believe that anyone in a position to know would release info like that so quickly, but the world is acting fairly weird lately. Dave
Tragic news but to be honest this sort of loss is to be expected in the Afghan type of conflict whether an accident or from enemy fire. I suspect the US investigators will know very quickly if the Chinook was hit by munitions, whether they release the information immediately is a different matter.
According to wiki, this is the 29th Chinook to be lost in Afghanistan; the 10th to hostile fire. List of aviation accidents and incidents in the War in Afghanistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Roxy
Regardless of how it crashed, by accident or by hostile fire, this tragedy has effected many families and my thoughts are with them at this time. R.I.P. Regards Tom
According to this latest report 22 of those killed were Navy Seals, I cant help but draw comparisons with the Falklands loss suffered by 22 SAS and the Blackhawk tragedy that befell the SASR....... although the circumstances differ its a big loss for such a unit. R.I.P. U.S. official: Killed forces were reinforcing troops in Afghanistan - CNN.com
It's comparatively easy to bring down a slow-moving aircraft, like a helicopter, by small arms fire. Whether or not munitions hit the aircraft, is however not crucial. Evasive manouvering to avoid the line of fire is a highly risky activity.
brothers all,thicker than blood.they stood the line,when the call came, they answered.yes they will be missed,but others will come forward to stand the line in their stead. Rest In Peace.
