Here’s how to complete the Denied Area Special Ops mission in Modern Warfare 2 and successfully destroy four SAM turrets to allow your reinforcements to enter Al Mazrah.

Best Kits and Equipment for Denied Area

The Kits you should use for Denied Area are the Medic and Assault. Due to how difficult this Spec Ops Mission is, it’s helpful to have someone that can focus on healing and one that can take the grunt of the damage.

How to Complete Denied Area in Spec Ops (Walkthrough)

When you first start the mission, you’ll notice a small guard post with some enemies. Silently take them down, and you should find plenty of loot there.

Select the weapons you feel most comfortable with and pick up some armor. Do not change your primary weapon with the infrared sight.

This is a stealth mission at times, so that weapon is essential for picking off enemies at a distance.

Destroy SAM Turret A

The mission will start with you at the top of a hill overlooking SAM Turret A. Your objective is to head into the Site and destroy the turret.

Make your way toward the guard post slowly. There will be two enemies here. Take them both out simultaneously with your teammate. Use headshots, or they will live and warn the other enemies.

Make your way to the guard post and use it as cover. You’ll be able to see four enemies at the bottom of the hill to your right. Take them out as quickly as possible.

If you alert the other enemies, then it’s okay. After taking out the enemies at the bottom of the hill, you’ll need to focus on the enemies on the rooftops to your left.

One of the enemies on the middle roof has a small mortar strike, so focus on them first.

After clearing the rooftops, you’ll need to head in closer and eliminate the ground units.

Enter from the right side of Site A. It’s best to stay together with your teammate to draw the attention of all the enemies to one area. Slowly pick off all the enemies until you feel that you have enough space to go and plant the bomb on SAM Turret A.

When ready, approach SAM Turret A and interact with it to plant the bomb. Get some distance between you and the SAM Turret because the explosion will down you.

After destroying the SAM Turret, head NW to one of the Site’s entrances, and you will see a truck. Before hopping on this truck, look around and grab one of the rocket launchers in the area. You’ll need it for the next part.

Locate SAM Turret B, C, & D

After grabbing the rocket launcher, have the player hop on the truck’s bed and the other one jump into the driver’s seat.

Start driving North West down the road, and keep following the path. Eventually, a helicopter will appear on the left side over the hill near the water tower.

Take it down quickly using the rocket launcher you just picked up. You’ll need to shoot it twice before it’s destroyed.

Continue down the path but keep an eye out for enemies that appear on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding you. You’ll need to take them down quickly, or they will disable your vehicle.

If your vehicle is disabled, you’ll be able to acquire a new one, but it will add quite a bit of time to your score.

Stay on the road without making any turns at any of the other paths. Eventually, the enemies will start coming for you in their vehicles. The best thing to do here is to disable the driver as quickly as possible.

Stay on the bath, and eventually, you’ll reach an intersection. At this point, the map will automatically highlight SAM Turret B, C, and D as an objective.

Destroy SAM Turret B

The closest objective to you will be SAM Turret B. Head towards the location marked on your map. You’ll also see a ping with the letter B in the direction you need to go.

As you drive to SAM Turret B, you’ll have to decide how you wish to approach this Site:

1. With stealth.
   • If you choose stealth, you’ll want to focus on eliminating enemies with high vantage points.
     • This includes watchtowers and rooftops.
   • Once those are gone, you’ll need to pick off any ground units and interact with SAM Turret B to plant the explosive.
   • After the explosive has been planted, find a vehicle and start heading to SAM Turret C.
2. Risking it all, driving straight into the Site, and immediately planting the bomb.
   • If you prioritize the objective, drive as far into site B as possible, but be careful of the enemies with rocket launchers.
   • Once you are near SAM Turret B, hop out of the vehicle and rush towards it.
   • Eliminate any enemy nearby, and have one player focus on planting the bomb.
   • Immediately after planting the bomb, turn South and jump over the fence.
   • Enter the Hatchback vehicle and make a quick getaway.

After destroying SAM Turret B, your next objective will be to destroy SAM Turret C.

Destroy SAM Turret C

Make your way to SAM Turret Site C. There will be rockets and enemy vehicles trying to stop you, so be sure to do your best to avoid the missiles and disable their drivers.

Site C is more of a fortress than the past two, so you’ll want to get in quickly and get out. A juggernaut is also waiting for you right next to the SAM Turret C.

You can use stealth to clear everyone out or try to hold a point in one of the houses. But it’s much easier to get as close as you can with a vehicle and make a sprint for the SAM Turrent.

Have one of the players do their best to distract the juggernaut while the other plants the bomb.

After the SAM Turrent explodes, make your way NW until you see a path heading downhill. Besides, the path will be a Cargo Truck. Enter the truck and make your way to SAM Turret D.

Destroy SAM Turret D

Once you leave Site C, a helicopter will try to run you down. Quickly take it down with your rocket launcher and continue to make your way to Site D.

You will encounter one more helicopter shortly after taking down the first. Keep your eyes on the skies and ensure it’s down before it can do any real damage.

It might be easier to find a solid place with cover and have both players damage the helicopter to take it down quickly.

Since the helicopter can do a lot of damage and if you’re too close together, you might both go down instantly.

Once you reach SAM Turret Site D, your biggest issue will be taking down the turret gunner on the rooftop. Once you’ve taken them out, then the rest will be pretty familiar.

There will be enemies that try to reach the turret to use it themselves. Keep an eye on them to ensure you don’t get any surprises.

Clear out as many ground units as possible, and make your way to the turret and interact with it.

This is probably the easiest SAM Turret to deal with, so it’s best to always leave it for last.

How to Reach Exfil in Denied Area

As soon as you destroy the last SAM Turret, a helicopter will appear and start doing heavy damage to you and your teammate.

Use the buildings around you as cover and quickly take them down. Once the helicopter is down, you need to find a vehicle near you and drive towards the Exfil location indicated on your screen with a ping.

Once you approach the area, you’ll see a plane land on the road. Eventually, it will stop and lower its doors to allow you to enter. Your goal is to enter those doors and successfully exfil.

A few enemy vehicles will appear and do one last push to take you down.

Quickly disable their drivers and take out any enemies shooting your way. Some Cargo Trucks have a PILA in them, so you can use that, if available, to blow up the vehicles quickly.

Once you reach the plane, all players must enter the plane to successfully exfil.

If you’re driving one of the combat trucks, you should be able to go straight into the plane cargo entrance!

Once you and your teammates do this, you’ll have completed the Denied Area Spec Ops Mission!

Tips for Denied Arms MW2 Spec Ops Mission

• Your objective is to destroy the SAM Turrets. You do not need to clear out all the enemies on each Site.
• Use vehicles as often as possible.
• Pick up a rocket launcher and keep it in your inventory. There will be multiple helicopters in the area, so they will come in handy.
• Most Sites will have areas to replenish your ammo and pick up new weapons, so make sure to look around when you’re running low.

How to Earn 3 Stars in Denied Area

To get 3 Stars on the Denied Area Spec Ops Mission, you must destroy all 4 SAM Turrets and Exfil within 16:00 minutes.

You’ll need to use a vehicle for most of your playthrough and waste no time destroying the SAM Turrets to complete Denied Area with 3 Stars successfully.

How to Beat IW Best Time on Denied Area

To beat the IW Best Time of 10:14 minutes on Denied Area, you’ll need to immediately split up to destroy every SAM Turret as quickly as possible.

Have one player enter SAM Turret Site A and destroy the turret, while the other player takes the vehicle at the bottom of the hill and gets a headstart to discover the other three Turret Sites.

From here, it’s a race against time and all the enemy forces.

Once you finish this mission, make sure to check out our guides for the rest of the MW2 Spec Ops Missions:

• Spec Ops: Defender Mt. Zaya Walkthrough & How to Get 3 Stars
• Spec Ops: Low Profile Walkthrough & How to Get 3 Stars

And don’t forget to check out where to find all intel fragments in MW2’s Spec Ops mode!

Many thanks to GeekyPastimes for providing the screenshots in this article.