Air Cavalry crews see higher-tech attacks, weapons from Iran
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14767&Itemid=224
BAGHDAD — Air cavalry helicopter pilots have had to change their tactics to adapt to newer and higher-tech surface-to-air missile systems that officials believe are coming in from Iran, a senior official in Iraq said Friday.
Crews from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade out of Camp Taji have flown support for operations in and around Baghdad for more than a year. Since their arrival, there has been an increase in the sophistication of attacks and types of weapons, Army Col. Daniel J. Shanahan said in a conference call with military analysts.
“In the last several months, we have had an increased threat from systems that we had not seen in the first part of the year,” Shanahan said. Some of them originated in “places like Iran,” he said, causing considerable change in tactics, techniques and procedures.
Iranian Rockets Found, Turned Over to Coalition Forces
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15692&Itemid=224
Iraqi civil defense personnel delivered 14 107 mm Iranian rockets and fuses to the Kazakhstani Soldiers, said 1st Lt. Almaz Mukashev, the Kazakhstani liaison officer. The rockets were manufactured in 2006.
The Iraqi civil defense personnel have turned over munitions to Coalition forces before, but this was the first delivery of Iranian weapons to Coalition forces, said Col. Peter Baker, the 214th Fires Brigade commander.
“This is another indication of the cooperation of Iraqi officials who in all earnestness want to have a better society,” Baker said. “They know these rockets are here illegally and that they are here to maim and kill Iraqi security forces and Coalition forces.”
Ping.