Iran–Iraq War by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / General
ISBN: 9781526728586
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2018-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

PR photo of an Iraqi helicopter with tanks of the Iraqi-supported MEK/MKO, 1987/88. (Albert Grandolini collection)

8. BATTLE FOR THE SKIES

Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran was greatly encouraged by intelligence that indicated his enemy’s air defences had all but ceased to function. He had every reason to believe that his powerful Soviet-supplied air force would swiftly gain air superiority. This would allow his fighter-bombers to range far and wide, that would enable him to paralyze the Iranian ground forces. Longer term, he would be able to strike at the heart of the Iranian economy by bombing its vulnerable oil industry. Certainly during the initial stages of the war in 1980/1, Iran, due to shortages of pilots, ground crews and spares, only put up limited numbers of its American-suppled F-4 and F-5 jets, although reportedly some of is F-14s were also used to effect.

Saddam’s air force though was not without its problems and suffered from poor tactical strike capabilities and ground liaison. Many of his inexperienced pilots did not prove as proficient as he hoped. There was also inter-service rivalry between the Iraqi air force and the army over the control of resources. Notably, most fighter losses on both sides were caused by air defences rather than actual dogfights.

After Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, the impressive Iranian air force, once regionally second only to that of Israel’s, suffered from a series of debilitating purges resulting in the loss of some 12,000 personnel. Due to the air force previously attracting educated recruits, it was seen as a hotbed of support for the ousted Shah. As a consequence the Iranian air force was perceived as an enemy of the Islamic Revolution. It lost another 20 percent of its men through desertion, leaving it in a state of complete disarray. Following Saddam’s invasion, Khomeini’s purges continued throughout the armed forces for fear of royalist plots. Nonetheless, many surviving pilots had to be let out of prison to help defend their country.

Iranian F-5 fighters—Saddam anticipated Iran’s air force would be grounded. (Iranmilitaryforum.net)

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.