Look at what Saddam had hidden in the sand!

Military Magazine | April 2004 | Lawrence H. Boteler

[johnmorris886]

An Iraqi jet, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat, was found in August 2003 buried in the sand after an informant tipped off U.S. troops. The MiG was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The MiG was reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand, like hidden treasure, waiting to be recovered at a later date. Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were from the Gulf War-era.

The Russian-made MiG-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S. Air Force troops in the photos is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticaed electronic warfare devices.

U.S. Air Force recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weights nearly 25 tons. The Foxbat is known to be one of Iraq's top jet fighters. The advanced electronic reconnaissance version found by the U.S. Air Force is currently in service with the Russian air force. The MiG is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour, or three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.

The recover of the advanced MiG fighter is considered to be an intelligence coup by the U.S. Air Force. The Foxbat may also be equipped with advanced Russian and French-made electronics that were sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a UN ban on arms sales to Badhdad.

The buried aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert. The discovery of the buried Iraqi jet fighters illustrates the problem faced by U.S. inspection teams searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is larger in size than California, and the massive deserts south and west of Baghdad were used by Saddam Hussein to hide weapons during the first Gulf War.

U.S. Intelligence sources have already uncovered several mass grave burial sites in the open deserts with an estimated 10,000 dead hidden there. In addition Iraq previously hid SCUD missles, chemical weapons and biological warheads by buring them under the desert sand.

UN inspection teams found those weapons in the early 1990s after detailed information of the exact locations was obtained. Former top U.S. weapons inspector Dr. David Kay is known to favor human intelligence as the primary means to finding Iraq's hidden treasure trove of weapons and secrets. While there are rumors of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons being shipped to nearby Syria, the weapons may very well still remain inside Iraq buried under the vast desert wastelands.

Some critics of the Bush Administration have claimed that the inability of U.S. Forces to uncover weapons of mass destruction is proof that the President mislead the nation into the war with Iraq. However in recent days the critics have fallen silent as word quietly leaked from Iraq that major discoveries have already been made and are now being documented completley. Bush Administration officials are keeping any such discoveries secret for the moment.

[johnmorris886]

I just got a free copy of Miltary Magazine in the mail today and this was the lead story. There are several good pictures of the Foxbat being uncovered. I picked out that it is believed that FRENCH technology was on the advanced aircraft.

Anyone heard anymore about this?

[Fledermaus]

It's at least a 6 month old story. Or is this a new jet? I think the one they uncovered months ago was Russian made.

Also, any time some total pinhead (i.e. Democrat) whines about WMD's, tell them Saddam could put ALL of his stockpiles he had in one of those jets and bury it!

He could have put ALL of his anthrax stockpiles in his spider-hole.

You hear idiots (again, Democrats) often say, "but how could he have moved them without us seeing it?" Simple: you could fit enough to kill hundreds of thousands in the trunk of a mid-size car.

It's just amazing how stupid the left is willing to prove themselves to be just to make a point.

[johnmorris886]

[GeronL]

The buried aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert.

Just screams 'accidental'. /sarcasm

Seriously, I remember the news articles from when they found the planes.

[Atlantic Friend]

If there weren't any Western technology aboard the warplane, calling a 1966-vintage MiG-25 an ADVANCED plane is really far-fetched.

[piasa]

If there wasn't advanced western technology on the F-117, it'd be, for all practical purposes, a brick.

[GLDNGUN]

OK, so WHY did Saddam bury his planes?

[Bazooka]

During Gulf War 1, he had some jets flown to Iran, arguably to make sure they were not destroyed and render the Iraqi air force unequipped. The Iranians decided to hold on to the jets and did not return them until the war was declared over.

May be this time Saddam thought he could stretch the war long enough to re-deploy the jets at some moment, without having them in "safe-keeping" out of reach.

[johnmorris886]

Like I said, I hadn't heard about this before, but this story states specifically:

The Russian-made MiG-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S. Air Force troops in the photos is an [b]advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices.[/b]

Apparently this MiG-25 is different than your run of the mill version. What I thought was interesting was the FRENCH technology reference. I wonder if one of the reasons the French were so opposed to the war, Other than being Anti-American, was that they were afraid many of their arms would turn up, arms that they illegally supplied Iraq.

[Makedonski]

The only French that can go on this plane is bit of French perfume in the cockpit and that is it.

Planes electronics are either one set (russian) or some other. It is hard to mix and match.

Actually the Chinese are doing lots of mix and matching using Russian airframes and israeli radars and missiles.

[ApplegateRanch]

I notice that you voted against it, before voting for it.

Then again, I was easily able to fire Taiwanese paperclips with Indian rubber bands.

I'll wait until the jury reports on this, while hoping something besides perfume sticks t the Frogs.

[Nick Danger]

[Broadside Joe]

If I recall correctly, the MIG that others are thinking of was found by Aussie Spec Ops not the USAF as this story points out.

[DustyMoment]

Hussein was clearly expecting either a protracted war that would give him ample time/opportunity to recover these aircraft, or he anticipated that his army would crack (again) as it did in GW1 after the USAF unceasingly carpet bombed them to h*ll (what the Muslims call Paradise). Making those aircraft flyable again and getting all the sand out of sensitive crevices will be a lengthy endeavor.

It was NOT going to ba an overnight exercise to get them back into the air again.

[American_Centurion]

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen holds up a five-pound bag of sugar on ABC's This Week, Nov. 16, 1997. Cohen used the sugar to illustrate that a similar amount of Anthrax could destroy half the population of Washington.

BUSH LIED!!!!!!!!

/sarc

[Riley]

Any of you Air Force / Air Wing / Naval Aviation types want to comment on what it'd take to make this bird combat-ready after it had been buried under 10 feet of sand with no apparent protection? Sand in EVERYTHING and possible airframe damage from the weight of it maybe?

[mewzilla]

The Foxbat may also be equipped with advanced Russian and French-made electronics that were sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a UN ban on arms sales to Badhdad.

Paging John Kerry....Nice allies ya got there, Johnny.

[Atlantic Friend]

But a brick designed to be an advanced stealth bomber. Even if it was sexed up with more modern electronics, I doubt the MIG-25 would stand a chance, even against 1980-vintage fighters.

What I would like to know is if the Iraqi MIG-25s, initially interceptor aircraft, had been turned into something else. They would make decent recon aircraft given their high-speed capacity, but could they also be used in a bomber role, in which case they could have been the designed aircraft to carry unconventional ordnance ?

If a USAF Freeper lurks in the immediate surroundings, I'd like to discuss the possibility.

[Wombat101]

You are incorrect, sir. WHO makes the electronics on an aircraft is irrelevant. What is important is that a) the electronic equipment is designed to fit within the airframe and b) said electronics conform to certain design specifications (i.e. voltage and stress requirements, radio interference guidelines, etc, etc). All this requires is co-operation between manufacturers. Very often, it is a matter of an aircraft requiring some modification of electronics or airframe in order to be able to use certain weapons or systems sold by another nation.

If you should doubt this, I can tell you from personal experience that at least half the guts of your typical AMERICAN avionics package are made in Taiwan (circuit boards and such) or similar places.

As for mixing and matching electronics and aircraft, it is done all the time. Every European fighter design of the last 30 years has done so (I submit the Tornado FR.1 for example, Italian radar, British fire control), so have the Israeli's (F-15's and 16's with some home-grown modifications).

[Atlantic Friend]

I won't comment on any involvement of my government, but French firms have already been found with their hands in the cookie jar in the past, like ordnance producer Luchaire in 1985, which did illegal business with Iran, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war.

I think the US forces should specifically mention what French systems have been found in the MIG (if any), so French authorities find themselves in a position to either confess or rule out any embargo violation. The same should be done for EVERY advanced system found, be it French, German, Russian, American, Chinese, etc.

If, for example, this MIG contained an electronic system that went into production after 1991, then my government would be forced to act and to punish the firm responsible for the sale (along with any officials that gave a green light to the sale). Even if the system was pre-1991 and thus could have been sold way before any embargo, its serial number should tell when the sale really occurred.

I hope there'll be a follow-up on this story.