Australian Forces Find 51 Migs in Western Iraq

Reuters ^ | Fri April 18, 2003 | Reuters

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I won't post anymore, until I've had my third cup of coffee.

Understood ;-) I was on my second pot!

[browardchad]

he never believed the Americans would follow all the way through, or both

More and more, I believe he relied heavily on the assurances of France, Russia and the UN that they could stop us. Knowing his propensity to shoot the messenger, they most likely assured him until the very end that he was safe.

[oceanview]

My guess: we paid off the air force generals, who agreed to ground the planes (and some missiles too), so we didn't have to attack them.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Dead on or before the first day. No command control evident anywhere.

[Doctor Stochastic]

These were MIGs. What you thought you saw was just a mirage.

[archy]

I continue to be immensely impressed with the Aussie SAS. These are some serious (no, not "series") BAMF's!

Their little six-wheeled Land Rovers are rather nice, too. And unlike a U.S. Humvee, they can be carried inside a CH-47 *$hithook* helicopter. Their use of motorbike-riding scouts and outriders is a nice touch, too.

[gcruse]

ALL YOUR FRENCH FIGHTER PLANES ARE BELONG TO US??? These are MIGS not MIRAGES.

Besides which 'planes' should be singular.
These amateur freepers....

[hchutch]

A MiG-29 Fulcrum (on the right)...

Slightly used, in good condition... I want it.

*drools*

[EaglesUpForever]

ALL YOUR MIG ARE BELONG TO US

[gcruse]

Excellent! LOL

[LibertyThug]

Was Iraq allowed to have these? I just thought that since they weren't allowed to have long-range missles so they couldn't harrass countries near to them...

[Oztrich Boy]

Strikemaster ground attack jet, if I'm not mistaken.

You are.

British Hawker Hunter. The Euro standard fighter of the 50s, until the Nato nations got seduced by the shiny Starfighter. Sweden hept hers until the 60s, The Swiss did a major upgrade and kept theirs into the 90s. (Maverick and Four(4) 30mm Cannon - That's Ground Attack!).

Ex-Nato airframes were rebuilt and became the standard South Asia/America fighter of the 60s.

In 1970 users were Abu Dhabi, Chile, Great Britain, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Rhodesia, Singapore, Switzerland.

At 50+, still in use in Lebanon and Zimbabwe.

[lowbridge]

bump

[Mark17]

The Foxbat was an overrated piece of crap until Belenko let us see one up close.

Yes he did, but if I am not mistaken, the Mig 25 was built as an interceptor, to shoot down the B-70, and was essentially an aircraft without a mission, because the B-70 never made it into full production.

[Tommyjo]

"Strikemaster ground attack jet, if I'm not mistaken."

Not a Strikemaster, but a Hawker Hunter. The Hunters were retired from the Iraqi Air Force in the 1980s. These retired Hunters were placed out on airfields such as H-2 to act as decoys. AC-130s had some fun with them as target practice during the early part of this recent war.

[Tommyjo]

"The picture appears to be of a MiG-23"Flogger" or its ground-attack varient, the MiG-27."

The picture shows a MiG-25PU Foxbat C. This is the two-seat trainer of the Foxbat.

[Poohbah]

Yes he did, but if I am not mistaken, the Mig 25 was built as an interceptor, to shoot down the B-70, and was essentially an aircraft without a mission, because the B-70 never made it into full production.

Correct...but it's doubtful that the Foxbat would've actually performed the mission.