Feral Jundi

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Aviation: Contract Aircraft, Non-military Aircraft Losses In Iraq And Afghanistan Wars

Filed under: Afghanistan,Aviation,Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:37 PM

What I wanted to do here is put together a list of all of the contract aviation losses in both wars. Thanks to wikipedia, it was easy to organize this and put it all together. If anyone has information they would like to add, or if you see some missing aircraft losses in this post, let me know in the comments.

Also, if you follow the links, they will take you to the overall aviation losses in these wars. In Iraq, the Kiowa Helicopter and the Apache really took a hit. Lots of crashes and combat losses there. But they were also heavily used.

In Afghanistan, I would have thought there would be more losses on both the military and civilian side. The CH 47 was the top aircraft that crashed or was shot down. The Blackhawk was right behind this aircraft. Although this war is not over, and these numbers could reach Iraq levels in a few years.

The big one in Afghanistan is the necessary power to get up to those elevations, and the CH 47 is a work horse for that. Hence why this was the top aircraft that crashed, because it gets the most use.

The total losses for military and civilian aircraft in the Iraq war was 133 rotary wing (with 43 lost to hostile fire) and 24 fixed wing losses (with 2 to hostile fire, and 2 to friendly fire).

In Afghanistan, it is 103 rotary wing (with 17 lost to hostile fire) and 23 fixed wing (with 1 lost to hostile fire on ground).

With those statistics, you get a good idea as to what the real danger is of flight in the war zones. The enemy is certainly a threat, but the environment/pilot error/equipment failure is what causes the majority of these crashes.

Also, it would be great to see our military or some think tank go through all of these accidents and combat losses, and find out if there is a better aircraft that could have been used for these types of missions. Sometimes the best aircraft is not necessarily the most expensive or fancier aircraft, but the one that can perform the job in the worst kind of conditions specific to that region or war zone. A hellfire missile fired from a Cessna Caravan, is no different than a hellfire missile fired from an Apache helicopter.

I guess my point is, are we using the correct aircraft with the best survivability and capability for the job that is required? We lost a lot of Kiowas, Apaches, CH 47’s, and Blackhawks in this war, and you wonder if there are aircraft that could have been better suited for these missions?

The other thing to think about is legacy aircraft for these countries when we leave. Both Iraq and Afghanistan are purchasing and using Cessna Caravans, and that is a great multipurpose aircraft that they could use. It is also cheap to keep running and pretty dependable. But once we give these countries the really expensive aircraft to operate and maintain, then how do we expect them to be able to afford using these things? And even with our own operations and the state of the US economy, we should be considering all options for aircraft, based on the requirements of the mission. It is not against the law to be more cost effective in war, and I have to think that there are cheaper options for some of the stuff we are doing in these conflicts. –Matt

 

Contract aircraft, non-military aircraft losses in the Iraq War
2009
July 17, 2009 – An MD-530F contracted to Xe (formerly Blackwater) crashes at Butler Range outside Baghdad. Two pilots died. The cause was not known.
2008
November 13, 2008 – An Antonov An-12 crashes after takeoff from Al Asad Air Base, killing all 7 crew members. Six members of the crew and one passenger died, three of them were Russians. The crew also consisted of a Belarusian, two Ukrainians and an Indian citizen.
2007
March 7, 2007 – A privately-contracted Mil Mi-8 helicopter from the Republic of Georgia crashes due to technical failures, injuring its three Ukrainian crewmembers, and several Iraqi passengers.
January 31, 2007 – A Blackwater USA Bell 412 helicopter is shot down under fire near Karma during a flight between Al Hillah and Baghdad. A US military helicopter rescues the passengers and crew.
January 23, 2007 – A Blackwater USA MD 530F helicopter is shot down by hostile fire in Baghdad. All of the 5 man crew are killed in the incident, likely executed after surviving the crash. The remaining survivor was also killed under unclear circumstances, when another Blackwater helicopter descended to the crash site.
January 9, 2007 – A Moldovan Antonov An-26 crashes near Balad in the 2007 Balad aircraft crash, killing 34 of the 35 on board.
2005
May 30, 2005 – A Comp Air 7SL aircraft with the Iraqi Air Force crashes in eastern Iraq, killing four Americans and an Iraqi on board.
April 21, 2005 – A Bulgarian Mil Mi-8 is shot down north of Baghdad, killing the 11 civilians on board, including six American contractors, three Bulgarian pilots, one of them is executed shortly after the crash, and two Fijian guards.
Link to Wikipedia here.
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Contract aircraft, non-military aircraft losses in Afghanistan War
2011
July 6, 2011: IL-76 cargo plane, registered 4K-AZ55, was destroyed in an accident near Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The plane is said to have flown into the side of a mountain at about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters).The transport plane carried a total of 18 tons of cargo for the NATO-led forces at Bagram Air Base.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Industry Talk: Getting Ready For The Big Switch In Iraq

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 10:35 AM

Officials familiar with the plans concede, however, that the police advisory program may not last beyond three years. A lack of recruits willing to earn between $100,000 and $150,000 annually for their expertise also means the program is beginning with about 120 advisers, down from the original goal of 190, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Much of State’s budget request is to pay security contractors to transport and protect the police advisers as they travel to about 30 sites across the country for meetings.

Now that quote up top was the one that I zeroed in on in this article. I have a hard time imagining that these guys are not able to find enough former police officers to staff this program. If they need 70 more advisers, then put the word out. lol It’s that simple and with an effective campaign, you should be able to get enough guys. Especially with today’s economy and lack of jobs.

I also think it is interesting that the Iraqis are now up to the level where they can train their own police.  That was a big goal of all of our efforts, and that is great. Now it sounds like the Iraqi’s are hungry for the advance level of police work, and this might really pay off in the long run. With more competent police, then crime can be more effectively dealt with, and they might even be able to find more terrorists. We will see, and the big one here is funding. If the DoS can secure the funds for this police program, then this thing could continue on for at least 3 to 5 years. –Matt

 

Getting ready for the big switch in Iraq
October 12, 2011
By Ed O’Keefe
If you get to spend any time with Iraqi political leaders of any sort, as The Federal Eye did during a brief stint in Iraq this summer, they’ll likely discuss their deep-rooted eagerness to work with “Americans with civilian suits, not military uniforms.”
That day is fast approaching.
Iraqi leaders still haven’t decided whether they want to extend a three-year security agreement beyond the end of the year, and if they don’t make a formal request by Dec. 31, all U.S. troops and equipment will pack up and leave. In their wake, the State Department plans to deploy about 17,000 American diplomats and security personnel across Iraq, comprising its largest diplomatic presence in the world — and the largest contingent of federal employees and contractors outside the United States.
But the expensive and daunting military-to-civilian transition in Iraq is expected to face close scrutiny from cost-conscious members of Congress eager to avoid further waste and abuse in wartime contracting. Officials with the departments of defense and state on Wednesday are slated to provide an update on the ongoing transition and spending plans at a House subcommittee hearing on national security and foreign operations.

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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Bounties: US Offers $10 Million Reward For Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader–Abu Du’a

Filed under: Al Qaeda,Bounties,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 9:32 PM

Good deal. In Iraq, these rewards for justice bounties sometimes pay off. Both Uday and Qusay were located because of a tipster seeking the $30 million dollar bounty. We will see and hopefully someone turns him in. Maybe even a contractor? lol –Matt

 

U.S. offers $10-million reward for Al Qaeda in Iraq leader
October 7, 2011
As the U.S. military heads for the exits in Iraq, the State Department is providing a sobering reminder of the dangers still there.
It has offered a $10-million reward for information that helps authorities capture or kill Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali Badri, also known as Abu Dua, the leader of the group Al Qaeda in Iraq.
If the bounty is any measure, finding Abu Dua is now a top priority. Only the chief of the global Al Qaeda organization, Ayman Zawahiri, merits a larger reward: $25 million. That’s also what the State Department offered for Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan in May.
The department long has offered $10 million for Mullah Omar, the Taliban commander who sheltered Bin Laden in Afghanistan before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The U.S. also has posted a $5-million bounty for Sirajuddin Haqqani, a leader of a network of Pakistan-based militants that U.S. officials say has attacked American forces in Afghanistan.
Three days after Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden, Abu Dua claimed responsibility for an attack in Hillah, Iraq, that killed 24 police officers and wounded 72 others. His group also claimed responsibility for 23 attacks south of Baghdad in March and April, the State Department said.

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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Quotes: DoS Says There Will Be 5,000 Security Personnel For Iraq In 2012

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq,Quotes — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 2:25 PM

What is interesting about this is that DoS has been getting some pressure from folks in Congress as to how many security contractors will be on the ground in Iraq in the near future. So this number is coming directly from DoS as a projection for 2012. That number is 5,000 security contractors, which is the equivalent to a brigade in the military. Although that number does not include the logistics folks and other contractor types in country, but at least this gives some perspective as to the size of just the security element.

Now of course this is not new if anyone has been following along. June of last year, State said they would need between 6,000 and 7,000 security contractors for Iraq.  And I guess if you were to add the requirements of the OSC, 5,000 would be modified to be closer to the 6,000 figure. But who knows, and those numbers are not out there yet.

This is also significant, because our industry is giving State the ability to safely operate and perform their duties in Iraq. The troops are going to be gone, and instead of the Marines being ‘last out’, it will be contractors. lol (the Marine in me is not laughing though…lol)

Now the other question that needs to be asked that really hasn’t been addressed from what I can see is the ‘lost functionality’ problem as the military leaves. I imagine that the Iraqis and maybe some small military contingents will be be filling in these gaps, but I am still curious how they are to be filled. Here is a quote from my post on the subject:

Recovering killed and wounded personnel
Recovering damaged vehicles
Recovering downed aircraft
Clearing travel routes
Operations-center monitoring of private security contractors (PSCs)
PSC inspection and accountability services
Convoy security
Explosive-ordnance disposal
Counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar notification
Counter-battery neutralization response
Communications support
Tactical-operations center dispatch of armed response teams
Policing Baghdad’s International Zone
Maintaining electronic counter-measures, threat intelligence, and technology capabilities

As the attack in Kabul demonstrates, there will be times where State’s security forces will actually have to participate in combat. With the troops gone in Iraq, and all of the services and combat power they used to provide going with them, has there been any arrangements to fill those gaps?

Now I am going to assume that all of these issues have been addressed, just because this list of issues was originally brought up by State to congress as to why they needed all of the MRAP’s and military hardware they requested. State has also had plenty of time to plan, and DoD and congress has had plenty of time to figure out what they plan on giving them for that mission.  But who knows, and I really hope it goes well for them. Especially as budget issues come up, and programs and missions are cut. –Matt

Iraq: U.S. Diplomatic Mission and Security Personnel for 2012
Taken Question
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
October 5, 2011
Question: Approximately how many security contractors will be required in Iraq to protect the U.S. diplomatic mission next year?
Answer: In light of the high threat environment in Iraq over the past several years, we expect that in 2012 there will be approximately 5,000 such security personnel to help protect our diplomatic presence in various locations around the country and ensure our capability to interact successfully with the Iraqi Government and people to build an enduring partnership of benefit to both countries and the region. We expect this number of security personnel to noticeably decrease in the following years as security conditions continue to improve, as they have done steadily since 2007.

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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Iraq: US Says No Decision On Keeping Troops In Iraq

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iran,Iraq,Military News — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 3:03 PM

This is an interesting development. Many folks were speculating that a much higher number of troops would stick around, and then this rumor of 3,000 troops came out and all hell broke loose. lol The article below mentions politics as a driver for this type of decision making….go figure?

The concern here is that if there is too small of a footprint, that these troops will be sitting ducks in Iraq, or Iraq will not be able to deal with their security issues without sufficient troop presence. My concern though is that companies in Iraq that are dependent upon the security services of the current troops, will have to once again re-adjust to the politics of the matter. Planning might have included a certain amount of US troop presence in specific areas, and all of their war fighting tools and capabilities that come with that presence. So if they were planning on a 10,000 troop presence, and now it is 3,000, that can have an impact.

It also can impact the logistics. If contracting companies were planning for a set amount of troops based off the feedback war planners were giving them, then those companies have made their moves and planed for those contracts. So yet again, the back and forth on the troop presence in Iraq has an impact on this industry. Of course companies will flex and adapt, but I am sure this is causing a lot of headaches.

The other aspect of Iraq that needs to be mentioned is the Iranian influence there. As we speak, rockets and mortars continue to fall on the various FOBs and outposts in Iraq. These munitions come from all sorts of sources, but the biggest arms provider is Iran. Their goal is to help along the exit of US Troops and destabilize the region so their pet leaders can rise to the top (like Sadr). So the environment in Iraq is less troops, but tons of contractors, and lots of Iranian weapons and influence pouring into the country to help destabilize it and in the long run control it with puppet leaders.

Iraq is also in dire need of maintenance of weapons and equipment, foreign investment to include oil contracts, training and upkeep of security forces, etc. If Iraq cannot depend upon a US troop presence to help in these areas, then they will probably depend on contractors to fill these needs. Which our industry will fill the need, but yet again we have the wolf called Iran and Al Qaeda still doing their best to do harm.

I contend that private industry can deal with these sets of problems, but private industry does not have the same freedom of war fighting and weapons/hardware that US troops enjoyed. So in essence, private industry will have to accomplish what the military used to do, and yet with one hand tied behind it’s back. If Iraq sinks into Civil War again, or the pace of war and problems pick up, contractors will be right in the middle of that. –Matt

 

US says no decision on keeping troops in Iraq
By LARA JAKES
September 7, 2011
The Obama administration pushed back Wednesday on reports it has decided to keep a few thousand troops in Iraq next year — a number that will do little to ease security concerns but may be too big for White House advisers who are worried about the slumping U.S. economy and the president’s re-election chances.
In Washington, new Joint Chiefs chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey and Undersecretary of State nominee Wendy Sherman separately said there has been no decision on how many troops might stay.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James F. Jeffrey went a step further, soundly dismissing as false news reports that about 3,000 troops would remain in Iraq beyond the final Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline.
He said that figure has not been part of ongoing discussions in Baghdad, where both governments have been weighing whether as many as 10,000 U.S. forces should stay.

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