smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) (02/28/91)
From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) I saw an AP wire story that said Air Force officials are considering crediting an EF-111 with the first air-to-air kill of the Iraq campaign. Apparently, during a sortie the first night, an Iraqi plane (a MiG, I believe) fired a missle at it. The EF-111 was forced to take evasive action. It did so so successfully that the MiG, which was trying to get back on its tail, crashed. This appears to have been the first Iraqi plane downed during the war. On a related note, the NY Times today (2/26), in an article on ``smart bombs'', mentioned an incident where an F-111 dropped a smart bomb on an airborne enemy helicopter.
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (03/01/91)
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) >On a related note, the NY Times today (2/26), in an article on ``smart >bombs'', mentioned an incident where an F-111 dropped a smart bomb on >an airborne enemy helicopter. Shaw's "Fighter Combat" mentions bombing helicopters as potentially a fairly effective tactic. Not because a direct hit is often feasible, "especially if the bomb is being dropped by a fighter pilot", but because a hefty bomb throws shrapnel a long, long way. -- "But this *is* the simplified version | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology for the general public." -S. Harris | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
monson@ee.ualberta.ca (Trevor Monson) (03/05/91)
From: monson@ee.ualberta.ca (Trevor Monson) >From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) >>From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) >>On a related note, the NY Times today (2/26), in an article on ``smart >>bombs'', mentioned an incident where an F-111 dropped a smart bomb on >>an airborne enemy helicopter. > >Shaw's "Fighter Combat" mentions bombing helicopters as potentially a >fairly effective tactic. Not because a direct hit is often feasible, >"especially if the bomb is being dropped by a fighter pilot", but because >a hefty bomb throws shrapnel a long, long way. I thought that it was a F-15 Strike Eagle that killed a hovering helicopter with a laser guided bomb. There was also an Iraqi tank that was killed by another smart bomb, with film shown on CNN. Can anyone clarify this? Was the helicopter killed by a F-15E or a F-111? Were there two helicopters killed, or did the F-111 get the tank? -- Trevor Monson email: monson@ee.ualberta.ca University of Alberta