Are you worried about engine failures or surface to air threat ????
If its the latter then a quick recap of whats out there :
Apart from light arms fire during t/o and landing and mortors on the ground we have the good old
MANPADS.
There are many out there but here are probibly the 2 most common in Iraq.
1) The American
FIM-92 Stinger, The FIM-92B can attack
a/c at a range of up to 15,700 feet (4,800 m) and at altitudes between 600 and 12,500 feet (180 and 3,800 m)
[IMG]file:///C:/Windows/TEMP/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Windows/TEMP/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG]
or Most probilbly the Russian SA-7 Grail,The maximum range and altitude of these missiles were consistently underestimated in the West. For example, although an altitude limit of 1,500' was widely quoted, an SA-7 hit an Omani jet (in 1974) at 11,500 feet.
Most importantly is the history of the the SA-7 Grail, The missile has seen use in a large number of conflicts.Between first firing and June 1970 the Egyptian army fired 99 missiles resulting in 36 hits.
Syrian forces shot down 11 Israel aircraft with an unspecified number of missiles in 1974.North Vietnam forces achieved 204 hits out of 589 firings against US, aircraft all would have had counter measures and wraning systems.
During the Rhodesian Bush war (1964 - 1979) terrorists utilised the Strela against unarmed civilian aircraft and brought down two Vickers Viscount passenger aircraft belonging to Air Rhodesia. There was great loss of life.
A missile was fired on a
DHL airbus leaving Baghdad in 2003, striking and forcing it to crash land.
al Qaeda is said to have produced an hour-long training video on how to use SA-7s.
Welcome to Iraq my friend ............................