U.S. Loses 3 Choppers in Iraq

I thought this article about the recent sharp rise in helicopter losses in Iraq was kind of interesting. According to AP, since May 2003, the U.S. military has lost 54 helicopters in Iraq, about half of them to hostile fire but 3 were lost since January 20. It's probably a statistical anomaly, but I thought it was interesting because of the comparison with the the 1979-1980 Afghanistan war. [Edit: Yes, it was a 4th helicopter that was shotdown in the past couple of weeks. The first article wasn't very accurate.]

Although the Soviets initially had free reign over the skies over Afghanistan, it is acknowledged that the use of American-supplied Stinger anti-aircraft missiles by Afghan fighters was a major factor in the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan. With respect to Iraq, the article notes that "the recent spate of losses raises questions about whether Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias may have stepped up attacks on helicopters or may have received new supplies of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons. Sunni insurgents are already known to have SA-7 anti-aircraft weapons in their arsenal as well as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, all of which pose a threat to aircraft."