This video has been making the rounds today so I thought I would post it as well. It's pretty incredible. From what I can tell the video was recorded in Turkey and the men that fired it are Kurdish PKK militia. The Super Cobra was responding to a gunfight between the PKK and the Turks near the Iraqi border. The weapon appears to be a Russian made IGLA launcher system. Unfortunately, it sounds like both of the pilots died, but given what was seen in the video, that's not surprising.
So what can we learn from this? Well for one, MANPADS are spreading. I have no idea how the Kurds were able to get an IGLA. My guess is that they made their way into Turkey from across the border in Iraq or Syria. This video shows how easy it is to shoot down a low flying aircraft if you have one of these launchers. If the MANPADS are spreading to the point that even the Kurds have them in Turkey, I am worried that some terrorist will use it against commercial airlines on landing or takeoff. ISIS or al-Nusra also have these kinds of weapons and I wouldn't be surprised if they used them at some point at civilian targets.
Turkey is claiming that this helicopter crashed due to "mechanical failure". I mean I guess it is true because the helicopter stopped working after the tail fell off, but my guess is that they didn't want it widely known that they had a helicopter shot down and that their enemies, the PKK, had MANPADS. That ship has sailed now.
As for the war between Turkey and the PKK, I don't really like either faction. Though the Kurds are a great ally in Iraq and Syria, I don't like their political beliefs. Too many of them are communists for me to ever be comfortable with them, especially the PKK. Of course I greatly dislike Turkey as well, so my response to this attack is mostly indifference. I do have to say that Turkey's war against the Kurds seems to be spiraling out of control. If it ever gets to the point of full blown civil war it could create yet another migrant wave to overrun Europe...
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