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C-130 vs. anti-tank missile

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The usual suspects

And as per usual there's a video on al Jazeera purporting to depict the actual shootdown....

...except, as per usual, it's been edited and is disjointed and doesn't prove anything.

Sympathies to families.
 
Draw your own conclusion - unless we are talking about wire or optically guided anti-tank missles, the older generation (RPG's - etc.) are purley line of sight. Shoulder-fired weapons like that have small motors with very limited propellant load and therefore are coasting/gliding once the propellant is expended (not long for an RPG). Remember that RPG's where used by the mujahadien in Afghanistan to bring down Russian Helo's and modified RPG's where used in Somalia to bring down US Helos with devastating results (even one downed helo is devastating in my book)!

Is it possible? If the Herc was low and slow in a predictable orbit or turn that allowed the shooter to get a freeze-frame/snap shot, then yes it is possible! I was under the impression that the aircraft in theater (both tactical and civilian) where operating in such a manner that the snap-shot scenario would be highly unlikely.


M
 
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SA-7 they have bunches and bunches of them in Iraq. I personally think they even have the SA-9 Gieko which will shoot down an airliner some day. Hope it is not me.
 
I haven't heard of any SA-9s over there...that's a radar-guided weapon and as soon as they lit up an airplane they'd have about a dozen HARMs headed their way.

It would be possible to shoot anything down with an RPG, provided you got a good shot and it was close enough...all an RPG is is a grenade attached to a rocket. A more serious threat are the various MANPADs (MAN-Portable Air Defense...shoulder-launched IR missiles) out there.
 

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