New Dimension in Air War

As U.S. attacks in Afghanistan shift from high-flying bombers to ground-hugging helicopters, missions are expected to become more precise--and far more dangerous.

Low, slow helicopters, some military experts say, will substantially increase the likelihood of U.S. casualties, thereby testing the bounds of public support for military strikes. At the same time, they will provide a measure of the Bush administration’s determination to win the war on terrorism even at the expense of American lives.

“This clearly raises the stakes,” said Nick Cook, aviation expert at Jane’s Defence Weekly in London. “Using helicopters will bring U.S. personnel within firing range of the enemy for the first time.”

Helicopter missions are more vulnerable to enemy fire, bad weather, mechanical failure and accidents.

In 1993, 18 U.S. soldiers died in Somalia in a firefight that erupted after rocket-propelled grenades brought down two high-tech Special Operations helicopters attempting to nab militia leader Mohammed Farah Aidid.

The military’s $16-million Apache attack helicopter, which destroyed 500 Iraqi tanks during the Gulf War, has also suffered numerous deadly accidents in recent years, most recently in a training mission in Albania during the 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

In 1980, Navy RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters attempting to rescue the American hostages in Iran crashed in a dust storm during a refueling stop, killing eight.

“If we use helicopters in Afghanistan, we’ll be fighting the weather and terrain more than we’ll be fighting the Taliban,” predicted retired Maj. Andy Messing Jr., executive director of the National Defense Council Foundation, a right-leaning think tank. “That’s what the Russians found out, and they lost 15,000 people in Afghanistan.”

Messing, a former Army Special Forces officer, knows firsthand how dangerous helicopter missions can be. In El Salvador, he inadvertently landed in a minefield and barely escaped.

Similar risks face U.S. pilots in Afghanistan, where steep mountain ranges may force helicopters to fly in wind-swept canyons or at high altitudes, where they are harder to maneuver.

The onset of winter will also make flying more difficult and increase the risk of ice on helicopter blades, Messing said.

So controversial was the idea of using U.S. helicopters during the conflict over Kosovo that the Clinton administration decided to keep them out of combat, concluding that the risk of U.S. casualties did not outweigh the potential military gains.

Much of the Taliban’s antiaircraft weaponry, such as surface-to-air missiles, probably was destroyed in this week’s U.S.-led attacks, reducing the risk to helicopters, said retired Col. Roger H.C. Donlon, who led an Army Special Forces unit in Vietnam and was awarded a Medal of Honor. But Taliban forces still have about 100 U.S.-made Stinger missiles and may have other shoulder-fired missiles.

Experts speculate that the military will begin by deploying MH-60K Black Hawks, which are specially equipped for covert operations requiring long flights, nighttime flying and rough weather.

Black Hawks are frequently escorted by MH-6 and AH-6 helicopters, dubbed Little Birds because they are substantially quieter than conventional helicopters, Cook said. The nimble choppers have reportedly been able to sneak up on targets at such a close range that snipers could pick off targets with a rifle.