No-fly zones could protect helicopters

CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq – The U.S. military has enlarged several “no-fly zones” for its helicopters north of Baghdad, trying to stop a wave of insurgent attacks on U.S. aircraft.

Pilots are required to skirt around the zones – marked as red circles on aviation maps – while transporting troops from base to base, said Maj. Rich Gordon, executive officer of the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. The brigade is made up of about 600 helicopter pilots who fly in an area from Baghdad north to the Turkish border.

Since Jan. 20, at least seven U.S. military helicopters have been shot down in Iraq – equaling the number for all of 2006, according to the U.S. military.

Pilots have made other tactical changes, such as alternating altitudes and flying more at night. The new measures may be working: No helicopters are known to have been downed by enemy fire since Feb. 21.

“We’re through that rash of shootdowns,” said Col. A. T. Ball, commander of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. “The measures we have taken in terms of adjustment to what we see the enemy doing on the ground (have) shown some effects.”