{"id":110005,"date":"2017-12-04T13:33:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T13:33:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-08T10:57:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T10:57:02","slug":"attacking-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnextjob.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/attacking-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Attacking Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DefenseNews.com <\/a>describes what an attack against Iran might look like. The scenario they paint is consistent with past speculation on the topic. A strike against Iran would be a Navy and Air Force show, with the aircraft and surface ships of the 5th fleet taking the lead role<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The story, by Defense News<\/em> reporter William McMichael, does contain a few minor errors. For example, he notes that the USAF has not deployed its stealth fighters–the F-117 and F-22–to the region, nor the B-2 stealth bomber. In reality, the F-117 and F-22 would be among the last assets to arrive (to avoid tipping our hand prematurely), and the B-2 would probably start the war from its home station (Whiteman AFB, MO), flying on to Deigo Garcia after initial bombing runs over Iran.<\/p>\n

McMichael is also a bit off in his characterization of Iran’s Air Force, though much of his information comes from noted defense analyst Anthony Cordesman. Tehran actually purchased 60 F-14s from the U.S. during the days of the Shah, but today, the number of flyable Tomcats is probably less than 10. Additionally, there is convincing evidence that the F-14’s “big stick,” the long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missile, is no longer operational on the Iranian jets. As we reported last year, Tehran was experimenting with I-HAWK surface-to-air (SAM) missiles on their F-14s, in an effort to find a replacement for the Phoenix.<\/a> There are a number of potential problems with that little science project, and no indication that it has actually been successful. At this point, Iran’s remaining F-14s would be nothing more than a minor nuisance to coalition aircraft, and I don’t think their AIM-54s would make much “noise” at all.<\/p>\n

In fact, Iran’s “front line” fighter is still the venerable F-4 Phantom, purchased from the U.S. more than 30 years ago. On most days, Tehran can muster no more than 30 of these jets, armed with older models of the AIM-7 Sparrow (radar-guided missile), and the AIM-9 Sidewinder, an IR missile. McMichael’s “experts” are correct in noting that Iranian fighter and air defense crews must rely on a chaotic command-and-control system for guidance, making them easy targets for USAF F-15s and F-22, and Navy F\/A-18s.<\/p>\n

While Iran does have some newer aircraft in its arsenal (notably, the Russian-built MiG-29), they have suffered from operational and logistical problems, and tactically, they are employed less proficiently than the F-4s and F-14s. As for those Iraqi aircraft that “defected” to Iran in 1991, most are derelicts, or used as decoys. Bottom line: the “real” air threat faced by our forces would consist of roughly two dozen F-4s, 6-8 F-14s, and perhaps a dozen MiG-29s, thrown into combat piecemeal, if they get off the ground at all.<\/p>\n

The article is more on track in its characterization of ground-based air defenses, although the only “medium altitude” missile system that causes any real concern is the recently-acquired SA-15. Iran’s older SAMs, including the U.S.-built I-HAWK and the Chinese-produced CSA-1 (SA-2) are well known, and we have very effective countermeasures for them. Potential aircraft losses from enemy fighters, SAMs and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) would probably be very low, particularly if SA-15 batteries can be identified and targeted quickly.<\/p>\n

The rest of the report is a pretty good read. Obviously, the real question is when the U.S. might pull the trigger on Tehran, and the Defense News<\/em> story closes with recent reports (from senior U.S. officials) downplaying chances for a conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DefenseNews.com describes what an attack against Iran might look like. The scenario they paint is consistent with past speculation on the topic. A strike against Iran would be a Navy and Air Force show, with the aircraft and surface ships of the 5th fleet taking the lead role. The story, by Defense News reporter William […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t