LW,
Feel free to challenge my comments here....the Somalia shoot downs were due to our guys becoming predictable and doing the deal in the daylight rather than in the dark. The Skinny's had also figured out how to shoot RPG's vertically by modifying the exhaust ends of the launchers.
Our guys put themselves into the situation where the bad guys knew their tactics....took advantage of that....had daylight instead of darkness...and sought out our weaknesses and expolited that.
The senior commanders failed to plan for the contingency that occurred....Blackhawks getting shot down....becoming fixed in place...losing the advantage of maneuver....did not have a fall back plan....and had not arranged for a relief force in advance of the operation.
Bottom line....our guys diddled the pooch and some very brave young men paid a very heavy priice for the failure of the Commanders to properly plan and execute the operation. Exactly the same as happened in Afghanistan during the Takur Ghar debacle.
My point is despite all the hi-tech gear and sophisticated systems....well thought out SOP's.....when you underestimate your enemy or over value their capabilities....bad things happen. Bad guys have good days too!
The Osprey is fast, quieter than helicopters in cruise....but in the final analysis....it takes guns to counter hostile threats. That is not the Osprey's strong suit....especially when compared to the helicopters it is to replace.
Plans only work right up to the point where contact is made with the enemy.
All the sensors failed at Takur Ghar....and helicopters got shot down....folks died. Be it today or forty years ago...when the shooting starts it is all the same. Fifty One's at close range today are the same as used forty years ago....RPG's are RPG's....and yes....SA-7's are the same. Human presence and their capabilities to view the battlefield and make accurate judgements were overruled by Commanders literally thousands of miles away and completely isolated from the battlefield. Input from the guys on the scene was ignored.....and good brave men died as a direct result.
Need I refer you to accounts of that combat action to support my statements?