September 19, 2007: On
September 12th, a U.S. MC-130 transport was hit by rifle fire while dropping
six tons of food supplies to a besieged Mali army garrison. The MC-130, a SOCOM
version of the C-130 transport, suffered minor damage to the hull. It's
virtually impossible to bring down, or even seriously damage, an aircraft like
the 40 ton, four engine, C-130, with rifle, or light machine-gun, fire. A heavy machine-gun (12.7mm or larger)
might take out an engine or two, or even injure some of the crew, but is also
unlikely to bring a large aircraft down. The MC-130 must have been flying
relatively low for a rifle bullet to even register a hit. Apparently, the GPS
guided parachutes were not used for the drop. These devices allow the aircraft
to make the drop at high altitude, and far away from the landing point.
The army base, near the
Algerian border, has been under siege by
Tuareg rebels. The, Tuaregs like
the Kurds, are an ancient people with tribes in several North African
countries. The Tuareg, who are related to the Berbers in Algeria, and more
distantly to the ancient Egyptians, have been fighting for centuries to
establish their own country. They long ago learned that, if you fire at
unwelcome aircraft, you will at least encourage them to fly away.
During World War II, the
Russians developed a tactic to bringing down low flying fighters. Troops were
trained, upon hearing the order, to fire their weapons into the air. A strafing
fighter, flying through such a wall of bullets, would often suffer serious
damage to the engine or flight controls. In practical terms, this tactic did
not bring down a lot of aircraft, but it was good for morale when the enemy had
warplanes attacking your troops. And the incidents where the massed fire did
bring down an aircraft, spread far and quick among the troops.
