Jfruser, my understanding of manpads is congruent with your own. What survives amongst the airborne menagerie is much a matter of strategy and tactics. Nothing is without vulnerability but the style of application steers that buggy significantly. War is a very fluid envoirnment and it's better to have capabilities unused than wishes & dreams .
Air defense systems have their own vulnerabilities and as I recall Saddam Hussein could testify to that if he was still around.
