WI Saddam dispersed his airforce?

Iraq isn't just a big desert, its a country that supports tens of millions of people and has the oldest civilisation in the world. There is desert in the west, a broad fertile centeral valley of the Tigris and Euphrates and mountains in the northeast.

And again, dispersal isn't the be all and end all, planes don't run primary missions from roads etc. they are used as part of a shuttle; load up from main base, land at dispersal road/minor airfield for top up with fuel, ground loiter for a few hours, fly mission and return to main base. If planes are having serviceability problems they don't disperse, only trouble-free planes disperse. It's just a way of increasing the percentages.
 

Cook

Banned
Wait a minute, are we talking about dispersing them to conserve them or are we talking about then actually operating from remote locations?
:confused:
 
Both. Dispersal to avoid being bombed in HAS and operating from unpredictable locations to avoid standing CAPs.
 

Cook

Banned

Oh, ok. Sorry I misunderstood.
I thought we were only talking about further hiding of his aircraft.

Larrikin’s assessment sounds right, especially the last line.

The Coalition had air Supremacy from very early on and had AWAC aircraft able to cover enormous stretches of the country. So Iraqi pilots talking off and landing either avoid radar or just get bombed shortly after landing.
Or if they take off from a highway and the ground crew move to a new location for a rendezvous that’s asking a lot of pilots and ground crews, especially when any transmission from the ground would be subject to EW tracking.
 

Cook

Banned
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some Chinese to flatten with my column of M1 Abrams.

George enjoying a quiet Sunday drive with mates.

tiananmen-square-tank1-1808.jpg
 
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