Middle Eastern intelligence sources are pointing to the shooting down of a General Atomics RQ-1B Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV) by Iraqi air defence, proof that the country has received external help to develop its capabilities in spite of international sanctions.
The US Air Force reported the Predator missing on 27August during a mission over southern Iraq as part of Operation Southern Watch. Although the USAF says the disappearance could be the result of a crash or enemy action, the incident comes a month after Iraqi air defences targeted a USAF Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
The sources say assistance has come mainly from China. Infrastructure improvements include linking air defence sites with a fibre-optic network, which enables improved, more secure communications between units.
According to one assessment, improvements to the surface-to-air missiles include equipping the SA-2 Guideline (Fakel S-75 Dvina/V-750) batteries with an infrared terminal guidance sensor and up-graded boosters and radar.
Electro-optical terminal guidance would allow the missile to be fired in the direction of a target and then guided towards the aircraft without the need to turn on air defence or missile radars. Both can be jammed while the former can be targeted by anti-radiation missiles. There has been speculation that Iraq received such a system from the Yugoslav regime of Slobodan Milosevic in the late 1990s.
Intelligence sources say recent USAF and UK Royal Air Force attacks have damaged Iraq's air defence system, though not sufficiently to prevent a random kill, especially when the target is on a routine flight path.
Source: Flight International
