Political Crossfire Forums

Iran needs to first learn what kind of plane should be used in air-to-air combat. Hint: It's not the Frogfoot.

http://theaviationist.com/2012/11/08/su-25-predator/

A lot of weird stuff about this story.

As easily as it sets me up to be accused of Iran-loving, America-hating, I actually kind of think they intended to miss. It wasn't that they wanted to take down a drone; they wanted to demonstrate they could.

Either that, or they are trying out new ways of attacking drones.

Well what country can't shoot down a plane flying perfectly level at 150 knots? Shooting a ground pounding planes gun at a plane and missing isn't a huge show of force. They would have had to have specially dispatched those planes to intercept the drone. They wouldn't know what kind of plane it was until getting close enough to make visual contact, so why send up two ground pounders to intercept it?

It just makes no sense.

iran's airforce sucks. how is this weird?

Er... There is a difference between having a crappy Air Force and not being able to understand basic doctrine. The Iranian Air Force has been handed their doctrine by the Soviets. So, yes, they have shitty equipment... but they aren't stupid.

The Iranian air force doesn't even operate Frogfoots. So who did they belong to? The revolutionary guard?

That's what the news is saying.

But you don't understand. It makes as much sense to send up a Frogfoot to engage an aerial target as it does to send in a tank to take out a boat. They didn't know what kind of plane it was before engaging, so why send up a plane that has no capability (or very little) for air-to-air combat? The gun on the frogfoot is for ground pounding, so it has no air-to-air reticule on it for shooting anything out of the air.