Moscow warning saves Iranian warplanes from Israeli attack

[Tigran of Sasoun]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/...1721240595037/

JERUSALEM, April 24 (UPI) -- Iran moved 140 fighter planes from an air base in April after being told by Moscow that Israel was set to destroy them, military sources say.

The Russian warning prompted Iran to relocate the warplanes to remote bases and cancel an army air show planned for the next day, the military intelligence Web site DEBKAfile reported Friday.

The Israeli-based Web site says it learned from Iranian and intelligence sources that Tehran intended to hold its biggest air show ever on April 18 to let the world know that it was capable of fighting off an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.

Instead, only four aircraft flew over the base. Iranian media reported that the big show had to be canceled because of inclement weather.

DEBKAfile said Moscow's spy satellites and intelligence sources warned Tehran in time to save the planes.

Had the raid taken place, Iran would have lost the bulk of its air force, leaving its nuclear sites without aerial defense, the report said.

[Grof]

What kind of fighters does Iran poses anyway? I'm sure that they are no match for the ones the IDF owns, and if they are actually good fighters like MIg 29s and Sukhois they still don't stand a chance because IDF pilots are better trained.

O and if its true that Russia did this its actually better for all sides. That would have probably brought a all out war in the region.

[Holger Danske]

What kind of fighters does Iran poses anyway? I'm sure that they are no match for the ones the IDF owns, and if they are actually good fighters like MIg 29s and Sukhois they still don't stand a chance because IDF pilots are better trained.

O and if its true that Russia did this its actually better for all sides. That would have probably brought a all out war in the region.

The creme de la cream of the Iranian Air Force is horrendously outdated F-14s...

[Mangalore]

What kind of fighters does Iran poses anyway? I'm sure that they are no match for the ones the IDF owns, and if they are actually good fighters like MIg 29s and Sukhois they still don't stand a chance because IDF pilots are better trained. ....

That's shortsighted. Any Israeli air operation against Iran would have Israeli aircraft operating at the limits of their fuel ranges (with only limited refuel/refit capability in the area). The last thing Israel would want to have in such an attack is a fair and square air battle regardless of any discrepancies in capabilities because their aircraft would be hanging out there without any backup.

However an attack against the Iranian airforce itself would be an escalation in another league than attacking a nuclear facility through a sneak attack. The Iranians would be justified to response with a full military response which at the very least would probably involve a missile strike possibly not aimed at any military infrastructure but urban centers. More precisely: Attacking another country's military is something entirely different than bombing a nuclear program the targetted country claims it does not have. Though this is a bit confused because the Iranians do not deny they have those facilities, they deny they use them for military purposes. Still,...

Sounds more like something from a James Bond movie than actual plan.

[Yosemite]

What kind of fighters does Iran poses anyway? I'm sure that they are no match for the ones the IDF owns, and if they are actually good fighters like MIg 29s and Sukhois they still don't stand a chance because IDF pilots are better trained.

O and if its true that Russia did this its actually better for all sides. That would have probably brought a all out war in the region.

stop considering iran for less than

they do stand a chance

[Grof]

stop considering iran for less than

they do stand a chance

a equally trained Iranian pilot in a properly equipped Russian Mig 29 or one of the new Sukhois probably has a better chance but I doubt these Iranian pilots could match up against a IDF pilot.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I want to know what the israeli based website is.

[Phier]

So let me get this straight.

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

[NLegari]

So let me get this straight.

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

That is what it seems to be...

[Phier]

That is what it seems to be...

If Israel runs a mission in Iran I see it having to do with radioactive targets, not an airshow.

[Cougar109]

If Israel runs a mission in Iran I see it having to do with radioactive targets, not an airshow.

I don't know, personally I'd go for the enemies airforce and AD systems first since you know, they could shoot down your own aircraft. Nuclear facilities would be a secondary objective since they pose no immediate threat to their operations.

To the guy asking abut the IRIAF. If I'm not mistaken the primary jet fighter in the Iranian Airforce is an offshoot of the F-14 not sure what they call it, no clue on how well they're trained.

[Georgy Zhukov]

I don't know, personally I'd go for the enemies airforce and AD systems first since you know, they could shoot down your own aircraft. Nuclear facilities would be a secondary objective since they pose no immediate threat to their operations.

To the guy asking abut the IRIAF. If I'm not mistaken the primary jet fighter in the Iranian Airforce is an offshoot of the F-14 not sure what they call it, no clue on how well they're trained.

But nuclear targets would be the primary objective not the Iranian Airforce, were the Israeli's to strike they would take out the facilities and hightail it home where they could refuel and regear for any Iranian trailers who decided to follow them back.

[Phier]

I don't know, personally I'd go for the enemies airforce and AD systems first since you know, they could shoot down your own aircraft. Nuclear facilities would be a secondary objective since they pose no immediate threat to their operations.

To the guy asking abut the IRIAF. If I'm not mistaken the primary jet fighter in the Iranian Airforce is an offshoot of the F-14 not sure what they call it, no clue on how well they're trained.

If they are anything like the Iraqi airforce, they would be rather ineffective. When Israel took out Saddam's nuclear plant they didn't destroy the airforce first.

Destroying the airforce is what you do when you are going to invade, not blow up some high value targets and bug out. Since Israel can't invade the only tinfoil hat response would be the US was doing it with Israel which is silly since we would just use our own navy airforce, and maybe Iraq based planes.

So honestly I can see Israel attacking Iran, I just don't see them attacking this way.

[MadBurgerMaker]

To the guy asking abut the IRIAF. If I'm not mistaken the primary jet fighter in the Iranian Airforce is an offshoot of the F-14 not sure what they call it, no clue on how well they're trained.

They have real F-14's, but they don't make up the majority of their inventory. IIRC, they designed and built their own version of the F-5 though.

Edit: Or had real F-14s. I think there's some debate about the things really...working...anymore in any significant numbers.

Edit2: They do have a bunch of MiG-29s that work though, which I would think are the primary fighters in their inventory.

[Stavroforos]

So let me get this straight.

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

Wow, it's just like that mission in Combat Flight Simulator, where you have to attack a British airshow!

Anyway, lol @ anyone caring about the Iranian air force. It's not as if they can't be destroyed by the IAF anywhere they are in Iran or anything.

[b_133]

So let me get this straight.

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

Well if this was actually true then this would make sense.
You have to take into consideration that any war Israel and Iran might have is going to be purely air force and missile war, and an air show of 140 fighters is actually a decent opportunity to cripple Iran's air force before anything else takes place.

But the thing is, this isn't true.
The original source of this is DebkaFile, an Israeli military news website which is dubious at best and laughable at worst.
So i would go farther than taking it with a grain of salt, i'd probably ignore these "news".

[Carach]

So let me get this straight.

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

sounds rather far fetched to me, not sure i can trust this piece of news.

havent heard it anywhere else either, and i follow military websites daily.

[IrishHitman]

Israel was going to attack an airshow?

Israel would attack busloads of crippled children, nuns, pacifists and AIDS vaccines if it thought their country would be saved from the tiniest threat.
I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.

[EpicJon]

Israel would attack busloads of crippled children, nuns, pacifists and AIDS vaccines if it thought their country would be saved from the tiniest threat.
I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.

If they thought? Lets not forget that Ahmedenijad threatened to "wipe them off the map". I believe thats a credible threat. And can you read? The OP stated that Iran wanted to have an air show to show that they can defend their facilities - I doubt they would be using unarmed aircrafts.

-EJon

[Rapax]

If they thought? Lets not forget that Ahmedenijad threatened to "wipe them off the map". I believe thats a credible threat. And can you read? The OP stated that Iran wanted to have an air show to show that they can defend their facilities - I doubt they would be using unarmed aircrafts.

-EJon

An airshow is an airshow, no matter what it's supposed to demonstrate. Hence unless they wanted to perform a live fire demonstration, you would not let aircraft perform fully armed. The point for Iran would be nothing more than to show "look we got lots of airplanes".