Potential for deadly, Russian missiles to end up on the black market.
Libya Has Advanced Russian SAMs
Mar 29, 2011
By David A. Fulghum, Robert Wall
Washington, London
Establishing a no-fly zone over *Libya may not be a massive challenge for the coalition trying to enforce *United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, but the operation has nevertheless exposed serious military and political pitfalls.
One of those surprises is the unexpected and elusive threat from a sophisticated surface-to-air missile (SAM) that Libya fielded virtually unnoticed—the NATO-designated SA-24 “Grinch.” Its presence on the battlefield underscores the need for coalition partners to draw on the full spectrum of electronic warfare capabilities to prosecute their air campaign. The missile also poses a latent threat to low-flying cargo aircraft once relief, medical, evacuation and rebuilding missions begin. Expectations are that these much-sought-after weapons will slip into the black market and into the hands of lawless groups that will want to stop aid to any of the sides involved in the Libyan conflict.
The presence—not announced yet—of the jam-resistance weapon was a surprise to U.S. and international military analysts because there have been only rumors of a possible Igla-S/SA-24 sale to Libya and no mention of it in officials sources, such as the U.N. Arms Register. Pictures of the SA-24 have appeared on television since the start of the war, but were not publicly identified by the intelligence community.
[more @
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener...annel=defense]
[P.S. the Libyan SA-24 cannot be used as MANPADS despite what the article suggests. A separate trigger mechanism, that Libya does not (not "supposed" to) have, is required. However, the Libyan military has
some Soviet era Strela-2 and Strela-2M manpads that could still be operational.]
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Libya Has Advanced Russian SAMs
