José,
I'm glad you found the book interesting.

Nevertheless, I notice some scepticism regarding the "claims" we've
published in it, so let me just add here, that we have very carefully
researched them. In fact, 95% of the claims you can find in the list
on pages 85 thru 88 were cross-examined with what can be found in
different USAF and USN documents, during interviews with Iraqi pilots
and officers. Given some quite useful reactions on that book from Iraq
we're currently getting, I can say that the actual number of confirmed
kills could eventually easily go over 200.

Of course, there is a legitime question of how is one getting a
confirmation for a kill scored over a range of between 70 and 150km.
But, we all should actually know that such kills can be confirmed as
well - especially when one finally establishes good contacts to both
involved sides and gets confirmation even from the opposition. So, for
example, when an Iranian pilot claims he fired two AIM-54s and two
AIM-7s from BV-ranges to engage a group of eight Iraqi fighters and
shot down two, but surviving Iraqi pilots from that formation say
they've seen with their own eyes as three of their pals went down in
flames, and an USAF document confirms this, then I'd say we've been
cautios enough for that case, and do not see a particular reason to
question that statement from the Iranian pilot.

Regarding why was the F-14 always getting tumbs down when it came to
political decisions in the USA: well, that remains unclear to anybody
Farzad and me were able to ask. It was certainly not the performance
of the aircraft - neither that in the USA nor combat performance in
Iran, then especially the later was actually well-known to relevant
circles in Pentagon.

Certain is that if Iran remained a US ally through the 1980s they
would re-engine and futher upgrade their whole fleet (which by 1985
would consist of some 150 Tomcats), and this process would very likely
cause the USN to do something similar as well. After all, it was Iran
who saved the whole project already in 1974....


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Tom Cooper
Freelance aviation journalist

Author:
- Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...hp/title=S7875

- Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...hp/title=S6550

- Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...hp/title=S6585

- African MiGs
http://www.acig.org/afmig/

- Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988
http://www.acig.org/pg1/content.php
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