goaround7,
Just a thought on the manpads, i have breifed on tactics with these in a previous existence. The amount of manpads in theater is not an indication of usable systems available, also take into account the amount of people trained to use them, they do require practice to use efficiently. Do you have access to inteligence in country, have there been reports of a lot of manpads being shot off, i suspect from a source in country that the majority of threat is small arms based, however don't discount any threat.
Bearing all that in mind perhps the you should plan movement in country with a flexible approach, some high level with a rapid descent type approach a la N. Ireland, some low level, preferably all at night, although i suspect the client will not want that.
Regarding choice of a/c perhaps blending in with other a/c will be a better approach, shooting down any helicopter for insurgent groups is a kudos kill.
Good luck
