Destruction On A Budget

While Directional Infra-Red Countermeasures (DIRCMs) are traditionally considered to be the preserve of military aircraft, the continuing threat presented by Infrared (IR) guided Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) is making such equipment attractive to non military operators.

- Thomas Withington

The travel warning of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued on 23rd May was unambiguous in its tone: “While there have been no reports of Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) being used against civil aviation in the territory and airspace of Pakistan, some extremist militant groups are suspected of having access to MANPADS.” The FAA warning continued: “As a result, there is a potential risk for (guerrillas) to target civil aviation with MANPADS at low altitudes.” MANPADS, which primarily use IR or laser-guided SAMs have presented a potent danger to civil aviation since their first recorded use against such a target when a Vickers Viscount-782D turboprop airliner belonging to Air Rhodesia flying between Victoria Falls in western Zimbabwe and Harare in the northeast of the country was shot down on 3rd September 1978 by the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) using a KBM 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS employing an IR-guided SAM. The attack caused the loss of 38 souls; a further ten survivors were massacred by ZPRA insurgents at the crash site in Karoi, northern Zimbabwe. Fortunately, there have been no documented examples of MANPADS use against civilian aircraft since an Ilyushin Il-76TD turbofan freighter belonging to Belarussian cargo airline TransAVIAexport was believed to have been shot down on 23rd March 2007. The aircraft, which had been assisting the supply of humanitarian aid to the Somalian capital Mogadishu, had departed the city’s international airport at 1400 local time when one of the jet’s wings was seen to separate from the aircraft, causing the crash and killing all eleven occupants. The Belarussian government and a Somali Islamist website, qaadisiya. com maintained that the aircraft was struck by a SAM, although this was denied by the Somali government.

Proliferation