Iran loses its only AWACS as Ahmadinejad threatens the world

[RACER X]

http://www2.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6280

Up above a big military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as Iranian president declared Iran's armed forces would "chop off the hands" of any power daring to attack his country, two air force jets collided in mid-air. One was Iran's only airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for coordinating long-distance aerial operations, DEBKAfile's military and Iranian sources disclose.

The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.

Dubbed "Simorgh" (a flying creature of Iranian fable which performs wonders in mid-flight), the AWACS' appearance, escorted by fighter jets, was to have been the climax for the Iranian Air force's fly-past over the parade. Instead, it collided with one of escorting planes, a US-made F-5E, and both crashed to the ground in flames. All seven crewmen were killed.

Eye witnesses reported that the flaming planes landed on the mausoleum burial site of the Islamic revolution's founder Ruhollah Khomeini, a national shrine. According to Western observers, no distress signals came from either cockpit indicating that the collision and explosions were sudden and fast.

DEBKAfile's military sources say the disaster was a serious blow to the Iranian Air Force not long after its first and only AWACS went into service in April 2008. It was a renovated version of the Russian Ilyushin 76, part of Saddam Hussein's air force before it was transferred to Iran in 1991 during the first Gulf War.

Tehran hired Russian technicians to carry out renovations and install up-to-date radar. At the launching ceremony of the upgraded AWACS, Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Miqani boasted its new radar systems were made in Iran and able to spot any airplane or missile at a distance of 1,000 kilometers from Iran's borders.

The loss of this airborne control system has left Iran's air force and air and missile defenses without "electronic eyes" for surveillance of the skies around its borders.


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[Mikey]

Lol. Somone needs to get a picture of the collision for a fail pic.

[CasterTroy]

Originally Posted by RACER X

The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.

Looks like he'll be ordering a rush shipment of "Extenz" instead

[pauldun170]

For those who prefer to read articles lacking stupidity

Iranian Military Planes Crashes in Annual Parade
By THOMAS NEWDICK
Published: 22 Sep 2009 18:49
Print Print | Print Email

TEHRAN - Iran's sole Simorgh AWACS aircraft was lost during a military parade Sept. 22, one of two Iranian military aircraft that crashed in Tehran while participating in a display to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force operated a single Simorgh, a former Iraqi Air Force Adnan. The Adnan AWACS was in turn a modification of a Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-76 transport.
Related Topics

* Middle East & Africa
* Air Warfare

The Simorgh collided with one of the Air Force's Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters over the area of the Imam Khomeyni Shrine, southern Tehran. According to eyewitnesses, the crash occurred immediately after the parade. Apparently, no mayday call was issued.

Both aircraft crashed in flames. Initial reports indicate that seven crewmembers were killed in the crash.

In total, Iraq built three AWACS aircraft, one Baghdad, and two Baghdad-2s, the latter later renamed Adnans. One Adnan and the Baghdad were evacuated to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War, while the second Adnan was destroyed on the ground by a coalition air strike in January 1991.

The exact status of the Iranian Simorgh and its onboard systems was long uncertain. However, photographs suggest that the aircraft was equipped with a newly fitted functioning radar suite.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=20090922-0

[derf]

Whoops!

[Riceaholic]

Originally Posted by derf

Whoops!

Fo' reallzz...

[derf]

Wow, seriously, for us to loose one is nothing, we got a bunch of them sitting on a shelf somewhere, for Iran to loose one, that is their entire national defense strategy. Seriously, they are completely open. And to loose an F15 too they dont have too many of those, and what is even worse is their need for good spare parts, and to loose a whole plane really screwed them

[RACER X]

Originally Posted by derf

Wow, seriously, for us to loose one is nothing, we got a bunch of them sitting on a shelf somewhere, for Iran to loose one, that is their entire national defense strategy. Seriously, they are completely open. And to loose an F15 too they dont have too many of those, and what is even worse is their need for good spare parts, and to loose a whole plane really screwed them

F5e.......

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by derf

Wow, seriously, for us to loose one is nothing, we got a bunch of them sitting on a shelf somewhere, for Iran to loose one, that is their entire national defense strategy. Seriously, they are completely open. And to loose an F15 too they dont have too many of those, and what is even worse is their need for good spare parts, and to loose a whole plane really screwed them

ummmmmmmmm

no

Originally Posted by derf

Yeh yeh yeh, still an outdated plane with few or no spares available which arent questionable quality black market or canibalized off the few other aircraft they have remaining in their fleet, which dates back to before the iranian revolution in the 70s

ummmmmm
no

[pauldun170]

Iran has a pretty substantial industrial complex. Their aerospace industry is pretty developed.It's tough (ask South Korea, India, France, China, Israel) to develop decent engines so they do rely somewhat on foreign expertise. Due to sanctions and tons of other political crap imposed on them they have been restricted in what they can do in terms of metallurgy so airframes are more likely going to be refurbished stuff from current inventory.

They still have I think about 20 airworthy F-14's with spares and a few more capable of being refurbished. They were used as AWACS during the Iraq-Iran war.

They've invested some $$$ in ground based systems so losing the AWACS isn't a huge loss as the defense doctrine wasn't built around it. Either way, they'll probably have another one up soon enough now that they have experience with it.

On a side note...despite the eclectic mix of ghetto fabulous equipment, they apparently have some top notch low level fliers over there.