Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Lost Iraqi MiG!

reply to post by bodrul

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I don't believe you can judge another person's courage until you've been in their situation.

reply to post by LLoyd45

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I agree, its the smart thing thing to do. Save your assets till they will actually be of use.

I say: "Warfare is part courage, part stupidity and
part intelligence, in no particular order."


To quote Starbuck (BSG):

This isn't dueling pistols at dawn, this is war. You never wanna fight
fair. You wanna sneak up behind your enemy, and club 'em over the head.


[edit on 1-4-2008 by battlestargalactica]

Yes..I remember this article from years ago. Also the Mig 25 is no great secret unless they have put new equipment in them. I dont believe so in a version sold to the Saddam Hussein Government.

Was there not a MIG 25 flown to Japan years ago?? I an assure you that our people went through it with a fine toothed comb.

The Mig 25 can run like a bat out of hell but I dont think it can turn and burn ad do our aircraft. Also remember that this is older technology. Blinding speed is no longer everything. Stealth technology has changed alot of this.

There are stories of Mig 25s falling apart ..or rather tearing apart when doing high speed maneuvers. Also of burning up thier engines in extreme high speed attempts. THis is not a front line aircraft anymore..but the Iraqis wanted to hide and or save it. No problem. Were I in their shoes I would have done the same. Quickest way in Iraq is to bury it in the sand.
Probably alot of things burried in the desert and not found as of yet.

Nice photos...thanks for this. I had not seen all of them prior to this thread.

Thanks,
Orangetom

[edit on 1-4-2008 by orangetom1999]

All set for season 4 huh?
Just 3 more days eh?


Bodrul,

To surrender or secure one's equipment is not necessarily an indication of cowardice.
Let me give you another analogy:

There is a malicious rumor/saying in the underbelly of the racial murmurs on our planet:

"Arabs are inherently inferior in modern combat at all levels; partly why Israel was able to fend of attacks from 4 (or was it 5) Arab states just days after its independence."

I'm sure you would disagree with that even though a supporter of such a statement could come up with numerous examples that could be construed to prove his/her point: The Yom Kippur war and Ariel Sharon's Tank battle for example.

One cannot pass judgment on many for the actions of a few; moreover on cannot pass judgment w/o understanding the complete mindset that went into making that decision to bury those planes.

The Iraqis weren't "terrible" fighter pilots. The Iran-Iraq war showed that they could shoot down 'better' a/c (F-14, F-4, F-5) with supposedly lesser ones (MiG23,MiG21).

Daedalus,

I agree with the crux of your last post.

And even many of our analysists here, after the first gulf war, declared that there was not much new in most of the dogfights. THough they declared that overall we had better aircraft, weapons, and training,...most of the fights were simply a matter of getting on the other guys SIX and shooting them down. Nothing new or breathtaking took place in aerial combat.

Agree with you and many of these analysists...that even though one may have the latest and greatest aircraft or weapons systems...it can be the caliber of the pilot which makes most of the difference at the moment of truth.

Thanks dadaelus for your post,
Orangetom

My first post! Been a lurker for awhile, but finally decided to sign up.

Anyway,

The aircraft pictured is a reconnaissance version of the -25 so it wouldn't be engaging with American fighters. It's a fairly useful aircraft in that role, so I'm not surprised they would bury one thinking the war would be much like the last one (I AM fairly surprised they would bury one without any noticeable protection).
*A good way to tell is the lack of a weapon radar in the nose. You can also see the photo port in a few of the photos, and the SLAR fairing in the thinner nose.

Good find. I hadn't seen the photos before, so even if they are old, I appreciated it

reply to post by _Del_

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Welcome and gratz on your first post you lurker! I have a feeling many lurk at ATS..What we need are more people speaking up. Good job doing that

As others have said, these were found right after we invaded Iraq in 2003. They figured they were buried during the First Gulf War.

OK, now, where are the people that there could be no way the Iraqis have hid WMDs??

Just what is the point of hidung these planes in the sand?, Was it for post invaded Iraq so that pro Saddam pilots can use them to fight against the Coalition forces occupieing Iraq?, Somthing like the "Wherwolf Movement"?

well those MiGs are quite easy to find you know.
And finding buried MiGs doesn't mean that it is a guanranteed WMD smoking gun..
c'mon. we're smarter than that?

nice find i wonder why i never seen it on the news.