AH challenge- F-14 Tomcat duel USN vs IRIAF

OK, what's the best scenario at any time during 1979 to 2006 for an air-to-air duel between the USN & IRIAF using their F14 Tomcats ? Who'd be likely to come oput on top ?
 
I think it would depend on which pilots were the most experienced. Remember that during the First Gulf War (Desert Storm) an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down one of our F-18s. The F-18 is unquestionably the superior airframe, but sometimes it comes down to the more experienced pilot. Iranian and Iraqi planes dueled in the skies over their countries for ten long years.
Recently, the remains of this downed American aviator were recovered, and sent home for reburial. I wonder what happened to the Iraqi MiG driver, though? Maybe he's flying for the new air force these days.
 
Recently, the remains of this downed American aviator were recovered, and sent home for reburial. I wonder what happened to the Iraqi MiG driver, though? Maybe he's flying for the new air force these days.

Lt. Zuhair Dawood, 84th squadron of the IQAF, survived the war and probably is still alive. He's by the way the only pilot since the Vietnam war to shoot down an American plane.

I don't think he's still flying, all Iraqi Mig-25s were flown to Iran or were buried in the desert before Iraqi Freedom. At the time he was apparently a rookie while ironically, Speicher was regarded as a very good pilot by his collegues. Just shows the role blind luck plays.

That Soviet AA missiles (about as good as their western counterparts) in combination with a dedication interceptor like the MiG-25 are enough to take down a multirole fighter like the F/A-18 should be no surprise. The Mig-25 is FAST, during Desert Storm, not a single one was shot down by Coalition forces. Most times, they could just outrun missiles fired at them.
 
That's very interesting. I hope Lt. Dawood is still flying, whether for his country's air force, Iraqi Airways, or someone. I don't understand why they say it'll take so long to get those F-16s over there, and to train the Iraqi pilots and groundcrew. The flight skills of the Iraqi pilots are perishable, and we really need to get them back in the cockpit of some kind of jets before too much time passes, or their experience, invaluable to their country, will be wasted.
The Iraqi planes which fled to Iran were interned, but Tehran has refused to return them, claiming them as partial reparations for the war of aggression begun by Saddam Hussein. Some have been put into service by the Iranians, but the MiG-25s aren't among them. Maybe they're in storage somewhere in Iran. I suppose the Iraqi pilots were allowed to return home after the war ended.
A team of Iraqi air force officers is currently in Serbia, examining some jet fighters (at least one MiG-23, and some MiG-21s) belonging to the prewar air force, sent there to be refurbished. The Serbs have performed this work, and have already been paid; preparations are being made to return the planes to Iraq. They've been in storage a long time, but I wonder if they're still in airworthy condition? I hope they are. They'll be the first jets to fly in the service of the new air force, a proud moment for the people of Iraq, a country with a long aviation tradition.
 
I don't understand why they say it'll take so long to get those F-16s over there, and to train the Iraqi pilots and groundcrew.

Competent Iraqi air defense might complicate possible Israeli air strikes on Iran, that's the reason.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
During operation Praying Mantis, the late-80s operation to guard neutral shipping in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, the US Navy made a series of strikes against Iranian oil derricks in the Gulf in response for an attack on one of their ships.

They were trying to bring out an Iranian destroyer to sink it, but instead two Iranian F-4s were scrambled. They were scrambled from Shiraz, which is also an F-14 base. If you juggle the CAP schedule, then it's possible that 2 F-14s could be scrambled to take on the USN F-14s attempting to strike the oil platform.

In OTL, the USN F-14s made one Sidewinder launch against the Iranians and missed. Needless to say, it was a bit embarrasing for them. The F-14 had built up quite a reputation as a killer in the Gulf of Sidra and they were hoping to build on it.
 
Competent Iraqi air defense might complicate possible Israeli air strikes on Iran, that's the reason.

Let's not make this political, shall we?

It's rubbish anyways what you're saying, as the new Iraqi army is all but an ally of the Americans.
They also wouldn't be wise to attack aircraft belonging to a big, well-trained, well-equiped, well-led war-winning airforce which is based very close and already once has shut down your nuclear program once without you being able to do anything about it.

I also doubt the Iraqi government is going to be more concerned for the Israeli interests then their own. After all it'll be the Iraqi government which decides what they fly and where they buy it.

jacobus said:
A team of Iraqi air force officers is currently in Serbia, examining some jet fighters (at least one MiG-23, and some MiG-21s) belonging to the prewar air force, sent there to be refurbished. The Serbs have performed this work, and have already been paid; preparations are being made to return the planes to Iraq. They've been in storage a long time, but I wonder if they're still in airworthy condition? I hope they are. They'll be the first jets to fly in the service of the new air force, a proud moment for the people of Iraq, a country with a long aviation tradition.

I hope they are in a lousy state and the Iraqi airforce doesn't get distracted from it's true purpose and nr 1 goal right now:
build up a large force of helicopters to use for transport and attack.
Fighters are far from the most needed at this moment and will only detract money from more important things for the Iraqi Airforce.

Secondly, you have to learn to walk before you can run; especially with everything other then pilots the Iraqi's have a lot to learn. It's not wise to start with aircraft, especially jets and even more especially obsolete old planes which require dozens of hours of maintenance and parts for every hour they spend in the air.

This article pretty much repeats my concerns:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogscript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3Ad726d4c6-3e11-4809-a230-213f761f08e5&plckCommentSortOrder=TimeStampAscending
 
Competent Iraqi air defense might complicate possible Israeli air strikes on Iran, that's the reason.

No, it's because the Kurds don't want the Iraqi central government to have an airforce, considering what they did with that airforce during the 80's.
 
No, it's because the Kurds don't want the Iraqi central government to have an airforce, considering what they did with that airforce during the 80's.

I haven't seen anything at all to suggest the KRG is opposed to the Iraqi defense establishment, especially considering the overrepresentation of Kurds in the Iraqi military. What have you seen that would suggest otherwise?
 
Let's not make this political, shall we?

It's rubbish anyways what you're saying, as the new Iraqi army is all but an ally of the Americans. They also wouldn't be wise to attack aircraft belonging to a big, well-trained, well-equiped, well-led war-winning airforce which is based very close and already once has shut down your nuclear program once without you being able to do anything about it.

One cannot discuss current events without getting political, can one?

While Iraqi government is an US ally this does not mean that Iraqi government or the electorate considers Israel a close friend. I'm not at all sure whether Iraqi government would consider an overflight by Israeli air force very friendly. There's also those pesky things such as sovereignity etc. which exist only if there's air defense to back it up (as discovered as recently as 1990's by Austria, for example).

Defense of Iraq undoubtely needs a modern and competent air defense to make the country able to defend itself against possible Israeli, Saudi-Arabian, Iranian or Turkish air efforts. Otherwise the country in that particular region is not really an independent state but a protectorate of some foreign power (wonder which one?). Whether this can be better afforded by SAM heavy or air force heavy methods is different question. This is not to say that the particular foreign air strikes would not be morally justified, but is merely stating a fact.
 
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