Operation Kaman-99 ( Operation Onion -99 ) is the Iranian Air Force’s operation, which was carried out in response to the unexpected strike of the Iraqi Air Force the day before, which launched the Iran-Iraq war .
| Operation Kaman-99 | |||||
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| Main Conflict: Iran-Iraq War | |||||
| date of | September 23, 1980 | ||||
| A place | Iraq | ||||
| Total | Iran victory | ||||
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| Losses | |||||
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Content
- 1 Background
- 2 Operation
- 3 Summary
- 4 notes
Background
September 22, 1980 Iraq launched a massive airstrike on Iran ’s strategic targets.
At 1:45, 6 Iraqi MiG-23s bombed an Iranian air base near Ahwaz .
An hour and a half later, the Iraqi MiG-23 attacked Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran , while other planes attacked 8 other important Iranian air bases.
However, Iran took into account the experience of the Six Day War , and most of its combat aircraft were hidden in concrete bunkers . Iraqi raid led to the formation of craters in several runways . After the raid, the Iranian Air Force began to prepare a retaliatory strike, which was delivered the next day.
Operation
On September 23, 1980, the Iranian Phantom F-4 , armed with the Mark 82 , Mark 83 and Mark 84 bombs, as well as the AGM-65 Maverick missiles , took off from the air base in Hamadan . After refueling in the air, the Phantoms reached the Iraqi capital Baghdad and attacked the air bases of El Kut , El Rashid and Al Khabbaniya . Another 8 F-4s flew out of Tehran and also attacked the El Rashid air base.
58 Iranian Northrop F-5s flying out of Tabriz attacked the Iraqi air base in Mosul . After the attack of Mosul, 50 F-5 attacked the Nasiriya air base, which was badly damaged.
While all 146 Iranian F-4s and F-5s were sent to bomb Iraq, 60 Grumman F-14 Tomcat planes were lifted to cover Iran’s airspace from a possible Iraqi response. Iraqi MiGs shot down three F-5s and damaged one F-4. In total, on the day of the operation, Iran irretrievably lost at least 12-13 aircraft, 10 F-5 and 2-3 F-4. [1] [2] According to Iraqi data, 67 aircraft were destroyed, which probably includes damaged aircraft that were able to return to the airfield. [3]
Iraq was well prepared for the raid: most Iraqi planes flew to other Arab countries, as a result of which they survived.
Summary
The fact that the Iranian Air Force did not suffer from an unexpected raid was a hard blow for Saddam Hussein . As a result of the Iranian retaliatory strike, all Iraqi air bases from which it was possible to reach the territory of Iran were disabled for several weeks, which allowed Iranian troops to regroup and prepare to repel the Iraqi invasion.
Notes
- ↑ Iranian Air Force losses
- ↑ Chronological Listing of Iranian Air Force McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II (link not available) . Date of treatment September 7, 2014. Archived July 10, 2015.
- ↑ Persia - Iran. Empire in the East (2010). Shirokorad Alexander Borisovich. p.93
- Tafażżolī, Ahmed, "Āraš i" , Encyclopaedia Iranica , vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, p. 266–267 .