Colonel Khodarenok: Iran could have experienced combat crews of air defense systems
Iran shot down two American military aircraft in a day, amid statements by Donald Trump that Tehran had no anti-aircraft weapons or radars left. Military observer of "Gazeta.En", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok figured out why Tehran suddenly began actively hitting US aircraft and how significant these losses are for the Pentagon.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces claims that on the morning of April 3, the military shot down an F-35 fighter jet over the central regions of the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, the American media write that it was not the F-35 that was hit, but the F-15E Strike Eagle. In addition, on the same day, the Iranian air defense forces shot down an A-10 attack aircraft in the southern part of the country.
How come? US President Donald Trump, in his address to the American nation, has just stated that Tehran "does not have anti-aircraft weapons," and Iranian radars are "100% destroyed." "Our military force cannot be stopped," the head of state stressed.
The United States has repeatedly stated that it has gained complete air and air supremacy, American aviation operates freely in Iran's airspace, and command and control of troops and weapons in the Islamic Republic is completely paralyzed. And then — on you! — the losses of aircraft in the US Air Force began to grow, and, note, this did not happen immediately, but in the second month of the war.
Why now?
The question arises — why did this happen right now? You can only answer it with assumptions.
It is quite possible that Iran has acquired combat crews of anti-aircraft missile systems and systems capable of operating in difficult conditions. However, it is unclear whether the specialists were raised on their own and on the national territory, or whether this is some kind of influence from the outside.
The details of the live firing are also unclear. If the electronic means of the anti-aircraft missile systems and air defense systems of Iran were paralyzed in the first hours of the conflict, then what happened to them later, if they subsequently turned out to be able to solve combat missions?
Have the air defense systems been improved during the conflict? It is unlikely that it could have been done so quickly. Or did other systems arrive at the theater of operations that had not previously been equipped with Iran's anti-aircraft missile forces, and even with combat crews? By and large, nothing can be ruled out in this story.
How serious are the losses for the United States?
Now let's talk about how big these losses of aircraft are for the United States and how they will affect the course and outcome of the fighting. If we compare the losses of American aircraft with the total number of sorties carried out and aircraft weapons dropped on the enemy, then these losses are less than symbolic.
The loss of 4-5% of the aircraft involved in the raids makes us seriously think about the tactics of strikes. If this figure is approaching, say, 10%, then a temporary halt in hostilities, an in-depth analysis of flights and strikes, and, as a result, a change of tactics are quite possible.
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| F-15E Strike Eagle. |
| Source: U.S. Air Force/ZUMA Press Wire/Reuters |
According to The Wall Street Journal, in the first three weeks of the war in Iran, the United States lost at least ten military aircraft. According to CNN estimates, seven aircraft were lost.
And the single losses of combat vehicles are, in fact, nothing to talk about. Of course, the US Air Force will draw appropriate conclusions from these episodes of hostilities, but they will not be able to seriously influence the continuation of the conflict with Iran.
However, it cannot be ruled out that the increased level of training of combat crews and advanced anti-aircraft missile technology will allow the Iranian Armed Forces to perform tasks with much greater efficiency in the near future.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
Graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976),
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
