U.S. warplanes vulnerable to shoulder-fired missiles.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

In Operation Desert Storm, the United States lost at least 20 aircraft to heat-seeking missiles. Ten years later, Pentagon officials have taken a cautious approach in planning air strikes on Afghanistan, fearing the threat from shoulder-fired infrared missiles.

"Our strike planners worry about the man-portable SAMs [surface-to-air missiles], because we've learned the lesson of those who went before and of our own experiences," said Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory S. Newbold, Joint Staff director of operations. Such apprehension shapes the planning of each strike -- the altitude and "the way in which we fly and the protection which escorts our missions," Newbold told reporters during a briefing on Operation Enduring Freedom.

Shoulder-fired air defenses, commonly known as Manpads, have been around since the 1960s. They are of particular concern to commanders and aircrews executing close-air support missions, because, for the most part, U.S. tactical fighter aircraft do not have warning systems against infrared missiles. If a missile is fired from a mile away, for example, it could hit the aircraft three or four seconds later. That is not enough time for a human to react and get away.

U.S. tactical fighter/bomber aircraft participating in air strikes over Afghanistan generally have flown at a safe altitude of 15,000 feet or higher, outside the range of SAMs. During the first few weeks of the conflict, Pentagon officials reported that most of Afghanistan's fixed SAMs had been destroyed. But it is not clear how vulnerable U.S. warplanes remain to the threat of Manpads operated by Taliban militias.

"Our air forces do not have adequate missile warning systems," said Congressman Joseph Pitts, R-Penn., who chairs the so-called Electronic Warfare Working Group. Pitts has been a long-time advocate of increased spending in electronic countermeasures to protect aircraft.

"We must be prepared [to defend against] infrared-guided, man-portable SAMs," Pitts told a conference on Capitol Hill. "We need to ramp up self-protection countermeasures," he said. "This is especially important for large aircraft, such as the C-130 and the C-17 cargo airplanes."

The Air Force C-17 has been used in Operation Enduring Freedom to air-drop humanitarian food rations to the Afghans. According to press reports, these drops were made from high altitudes, above 20,000 feet, to avoid enemy fire. During the conflict, both the Air Force and the Special Operations Command have...