September 23, 2009

Too good to check

Tehran, 22 Sep 2009:
Iran's sole Simorgh AWACS aircraft was lost during a military parade Sept. 22, one of two Iranian military aircraft that crashed in Tehran while participating in a display to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force operated a single Simorgh, a former Iraqi Air Force Adnan. The Adnan AWACS was in turn a modification of a Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-76 transport.
The Simorgh collided with one of the Air Force's Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters over the area of the Imam Khomeyni Shrine, southern Tehran.
As well as the poetry of the Iranian airforce taking a nosedive onto Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum, it's noteworthy that Israel is up against 34 year old fighter planes, unless, that is, Obama orders the USAF to intercept Israeli bombers en route to Iran. I wouldn't put it past him. If you were Netanyahu, how much notice would you give the Obamans of an impending strike on Iranian nukes?