Posted on 09/17/2007 7:37:13 AM PDT by jdm
Forget heat seaking multi million pound missiles Al-Qaeda terrorists may be using a low tech weapon that has been used as a toy by children for thousands of years: kites.
The multi billion pound US military fear al-Qaeda-linked militants may be flying cheap kites high above the Indonesian jungle with the intention that they get caught in the propellers of military helicopters flying by to bring them crashing to the ground.
A Huey helicopter encountered difficulty while flying back at night from a recent combat mission on the southern island of Jolo after a kite's thick nylon cord became dangerously entwined in its rotor, Philippine air force chief Lieutenant General Horacio Tolentino said today.
The pilots had noticed unusual vibrations, and managed to land safely in a Jolo military camp, he said.
An air force officer familiar with the incident said that the kite's cord most probably struck the Vietnam War-era Huey over a sparsely populated mountainous region, from which the aircraft evacuated soldiers wounded during a clash with suspected Abu Sayyaf militants.
It was unlikely the kite had been flown by ordinary civilians, the officer said.
Several kites may have been flown, then tied to trees surrounding a rebel encampment as an extra buffer against nighttime air attacks, the officer said.
'They really have an intention to bring down our helicopters,' Tolentino told the Associated Press.
After the incident, Tolentino said he instructed air force pilots to undertake "evasive maneuvers" aimed to protect choppers from kites during landing and takeoff in Jolo, especially at night. Inspectors were deployed to ensure no kites were being flown near air force areas, he said.
Kite-flying is a popular pastime on Jolo, a predominantly Muslim island where US forces have been providing non-combat assistance to Filipino troops to wipe out Abu Sayyaf militants and a handful of Indonesian militants.
But residents rarely fly kites at night.
Kites' potentially lethal power caught the country's attention last May, when a Huey helicopter crashed on a busy street near an air base in central Cebu province, killing nine people, seven of them on the ground.
Investigators said the nylon kite cord, which accidentally got coiled in the assembly connecting the main rotor to the aircraft's body, may have caused the crash.
Tolentino said the air force endorsed a bill to Congress that would penalize people who fly kites near airports and air bases nationwide following that deadly accident.
I thought the Taliban banned the use of kites.
Like everything else, they banned them for peoples’ use, but not for themselves. Abandoned Taliban vehicles had CD players and music CD’s in them, even though CD’s and music players were banned for everybody else. No wonder the liberals love AQ and Taliban, they are birds of a feather. The law is for thee but not for me................
No different than barrage balloons used as late as WWII. Guess they will have to start putting razor blades on the leading edge of the rotor to cut the lines.
A modern day version of the Barrage balloon?
Crank up the Rovian weather machine and turn off the wind in those areas. Next.
Those rainbow colored kites....
....Always suspected Al Qaeda was a little bit flouncy
“The multi billion pound US military fear al-Qaeda-linked militants may be flying cheap kites “
Fear??? LoL.
Too much ghanga
When in reverse, my car beeps if even the smallest thing is behind it. Can’t radar cover this?
It beeps when I start, the seat belt beeps all sorts of beeps, chimes, dings....I....freeking....hate....all...how...do I turn smash find the f’er who designed all this ......arrrrgh!
It would take some pretty substantial nylon cord to foul a Huey’s rotors, I would think. And I wonder what kind of kite could lift such a weight. It would have to be large enough to be pretty visible.
So, sharpen the blades already.
Does this story ring true to you?
That's not very smart. Find the kites and you've found the bad guys.
“It would take some pretty substantial nylon cord “
Check out some the fishing line available. I had mine picked up by a 100hp out board. The line was screaming off my real, as I was screaming at the boat that came too close to shore.
The boat made it about 200ft and died. They spent almost an hour trying to cut that line from the propeller.
BTW......biggest thing I ever caught !!!!
Look at a current US military chopper.
There are two funny looking things sitting above and below the leading edge of the main cabin. These are not antennas, they are called wire cutters for a reason.
FWIW, during the late unpleasantness in Nicaragua, hanging cable in jungle canopy was proposed as a way to bring down Hind Ds in use by the then) Govt forces.
Or...whenever we see these we shoot rockets with flachettes at them? It works for me. Or maybe call in the fast movers with fire bombs or...or...yeah, fire bombs:o)
This is just a flying enemy marker.
LLS
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