Some updates to the topic of IRIAF F-14s in combat....
Readers of "Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat" know that the pages 85 thru 88 list some 150+ claims for kills scored by Iranian Tomcats.
Now, thanks to several new Iraqi sources, we've managed to cross-examine some of these. The work is going on, but already now, there are some interesting new details....
- The entries for 10 September 1980 are now known to have been just "claims"; nothing was shot down, even if several missiles (no AIM-54s) were fired, and one of these detonated underneath a MiG-23. That MiG came away and was later repaired.
- However, we've got the whole story behind the claim for a MiG-23MS that should have been shot down on 13 September 1980. This kill actually occurred one day later (there was a mistake in translation from Persian to our calender), and the victim was actually a Su-20 (mistakes of this kind can happen when one is firing over a range of 70km).
The Iraqi Fitter was one of a pair of planes from No.44 Sqn IrAF, underway on a mission of visual recce during one of border clashes that led to the war. The leader of Iraqi formation was Maj. Noubar Abdel-Hamid, CO No.44 Squadron. His wingman later reported they encountered only very slight AAA, but all of a sudden Abdel-Hamid's plane, "just blew up".
Well, that was the first AIM-54-kill ever (and the second kill scored by an F-14 in total): Maj. Mohammad-Reza Attaie fired from over 70km... The Iraqis never knew what happened to their Major, Iranians couldn't help them either, then they never found the wrecakge, and (officially) he remains listed as MIA until today.
- The second AIM-54-kill occurred only two days later, when Capt. Azimi killed a MiG-21 from over 50km (his RIO, Capt. Amiraslani, went on to fire around a dozen of AIM-54s during the rest of the war). Apparently, the fuze of that AIM-54 failed, but the missile cut the MiG in two, and the Iraqi pilot ejected safely. He evaded Iranian ground troops and escaped back over the border.
The wreckage of his plane can be seen on the photo in lower right corner of p. 23 (i.e. that MiG was not shot down on 10 September, as explained in the book, but almost a week later).
Both losses have been confirmed also by the document named "The Study of IrAF Losses in War of Iran", one of few original documents left from the (meanwhile completely destroyed) official archives of the Iraqi Air Force.
This work is being continued. For example, aside from what I mentioned above, we have already found at least one kill not mentioned in that list (a Su-22, shot down in autumn 1983).
,porque en casi todas las fotos se ven que estan armados hasta los dientes
