PPRuNe Forums - U.S. Orders Airlines to Fly at Higher Altitudes Over Iraq

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U.S. Orders Airlines to Fly at Higher Altitudes Over Iraq

Says not below FL300. If they've applied the 'usual' safety buffer we're more or less back to what Ukraine said shortly before MH17. Wonder how much more this will clear the airways over Iraq, and how much additional traffic the route over Iran can accommodate.

To me the FL300 choice seems curious. While it seems a huge margin of safety for MANPADS, it is not remotely safe for even medium SAMs, so must not contemplate them.

I'm no artillery expert, but a quick review of sources on the net suggests that FL300 is very conservative for 155mm Howitzers (see 155mm graph), but only a little conservative for ex-Soviet 122mm artillery, or for original model 122mm "Grad" rockets, and not conservative at all for some of the Grad upgrade revisions when operated at maximum range.

My personal guess is that this is not hyper-conservative MANPADS provision, but rather directed at some form of artillery (accidental conflict, not intentional use as AAA) concern.

A better-informed guess than mine might be useful here.