I found this information on a military aircrew message board. While paling into insignificance compared to the human tragedy unfolding in Iraq, it’s still sad news:
“On the beeb Paul Beaver and a pretty reporter were doing a piece on the the gun camera footage from a C130 pointing out quite correctly that what we were seeing was merely the destruction of part of the Iraqi Air Force’s museum stock. Mig 15’s and Hawker Hunters (sacrilege!).”
Has anyone heard any more information (Flypast staff?)?
By: David Burke - 6th April 2003 at 12:57
I find the thread interesting on this one – bearing in mind that the
Indian air force was using Hunters until very recently we cannot rule out that the Iraqi’s could still have any of these older jets in any kind of airworthy condition. Admittedly they don’t pose much of a threat to allied aircraft but having said neither did airliners to the U.S until the events of September 11th.
Although it’s sad to see a Hunter lost we are not exactly short of them in preservation.
By: Arthur - 6th April 2003 at 11:51
I’m not sure if it was actual museum stuff – actually, i don’t even know if they have a museum at all.
The footage was from an AC-130 gunship which was performing Rumsfeld Diplomacy over H-2 airbase, one of the bases in Western Iraq. The images showed one Su-7, two Hunters and a few MiG-15/17s being attacked. If you ask me, those aircraft were simply retained at the airbase somewhere to be put up as decoys. And considering American recognition skills, vismods (like the Belgian Thunderages or the Jordanian Mirage F.104) weren’t really necessary.
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April 6, 2003 at 10:48 am