text: FM 7-100.1________________________________________________________________________________
  there are only a few weapons. This can reduce the effectiveness of enemy recon-
  naissance and the likelihood of enemy air attack in the area concerned.
  AMBUSHES
  9-169. Air defense ambushes usually comprise a single AA gun or SAM
  weapon, section, platoon, or battery with the mission of engaging enemy air-
  craft from a hidden or unexpected position. However, the OPFOR may also
  employ antihelicopter mines.
  Placement
  9-170. By their very nature, the placement of air defense ambushes is unpre-
  dictable. They might be placed on the most likely air avenues of approach or along
  secondary and tertiary avenues. They can be along flanks, forward, behind, and
  in gaps between maneuver units. Their purpose can possibly be to fill apparent
  gaps in air defense coverage or to defend key units or sites. Typical missions in-
  clude defending maneuver units, CPs, reserves, artillery and missile units, other
  air defense units in firing positions, and water obstacle-crossing sites.
  9-171. Ambushes can be placed
  • In valleys or defiles likely to be used as ingress or egress routes by
  infiltrating aircraft.
  • On adjacent heights to shoot down into valleys or defiles.
  • Just behind a crest to catch aircraft from behind as they clear a ridge.
  Single-launcher shoulder-fired SAM ambushes may be set up on wooden plat-
  forms built in treetops to catch aircraft flying over a forest. In urban areas,
  AA guns could be set up within the top or middle floors of buildings to fire
  laterally or even down on low-flying aircraft while remaining unseen from
  almost every angle. Often, air defense ambushes are placed in complex ter-
  rain that offers poor fields of observation but allows them to fire “window shots.”
  Planning and Preparation
  9-172. Air defense ambushes may be planned and executed on short notice
  with little preparation. In other cases, they may involve elaborate prepa-
  ration and camouflage, and tracking enemy aircraft over several days to
  discern operational patterns and possible weaknesses, or optimum weather
  patterns for a specific ambush site.
  9-173. Weather conditions may facilitate the use of an air defense ambush.
  For example, low cloud bases may force enemy aircraft down into the enve-
  lope of a particular weapon. Ambushing units may work in concert with
  smoke- or aerosol-dispensing units or ground-based jammers that jam a low-
  flying aircraft’s terrain-following radar, forcing it up into the ambush
  weapon’s optimum engagement envelope. The OPFOR may create a deception
  position using decoys or derelict weapons and vehicles, to draw the attention
  of enemy aircrews and cause them to enter the ambush zone of an air defense
  ambushing unit positioned nearby.
  9-174. The unit or weapon assigned to an air defense ambush usually occu-
  pies a temporary firing position in hours of darkness or under the cover of
  poor visibility conditions. It may assume a hide position near the firing position