The U.S. Army, responding to missile attacks on its helicopters, is fitting them with newer countermeasure dispensers, according to a spokesman for the service.

The M-130 dispenser is being replaced with the ALE-47, which puts out "four times as many countermeasures, flares or chaff, depending on what you're trying to defeat," said Maj. Gary Tallman. Flares defend against heat-seeking missiles and chaff deflects radar-guided missiles.

But, he said, the service is retaining the ALQ-156 missile warning system, which automatically triggers the release of the countermeasures, whether from the M-130 or the ALE-47. "The -156 can work either with the M-130 or the ALE-47," Tallman said. He also said "you can't assume" the action is being taken because there's a problem with the M-130.

Sixteen soldiers were killed Nov. 2 when a CH-47 Chinook reportedly fitted with the ALQ-156 and the M-130 was shot down, apparently by a shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missile. Observers said the ALQ-156 uses active radar to detect and track high-velocity projectiles. It then cues the dispenser and tells it to release chaff or flares.

It's not clear why the Chinook's system failed to defend against the missile, but some speculated the system wasn't in operating condition because it wasn't properly maintained.

"That's the trouble with electronic warfare equipment," one source said. "It doesn't get used in peacetime and people sort of forget about it. Then they think it's going to work when they need it."

Tallman said it appears that "with the exception of two aircraft in the unit that lost the Chinook ... they all had what they were supposed to have."

Durbin pushed upgrades

Sen. Dick Durbin (R-Ill.), who has pressed the Army on the subject, has quoted Army sources as saying the downed Chinook carried the ALQ-156 and the M-130.

Durbin released a Nov. 7 memo from Acting Secretary of the Army R.L. Brownlee that said Brownlee wanted "to see, as soon as possible, a plan to equip all our helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan with the most effective defensive systems we have in development or procurement. Affordability is not the constraint for such a plan - only what is doable considering technology, production, acquisition and application. ... Like other force protection measures, this is URGENT!" (DAILY, Nov. 17.)