F 22 Raptor in Top Gun Moment with Iranians

F 22 Raptor in Top Gun Moment with Phantom F4's from Iran

Earlier this year, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said that an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom combat plane attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace off Iran.
As we reported back then, one of the two F-4 Phantom jets came to about 16 miles from the UAV but broke off pursuit after they were broadcast a warning message by two American planes escorting the Predator.

Composite photograph

The episode happened in March 2013, few months after a two Sukhoi Su-25 attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American MQ-1 flying a routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16 miles off Iran, the interception of the unmanned aircraft failed.

After this attempted interception the Pentagon decided to escort the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance)  missions with fighter jets (either F-18 Hornets with the CVW 9 embarked on the USS John C. Stennis whose Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors like those deployed to Al Dhafra in the UAE.

Airshow image of relative size (F 4 in the lead)

New details about the episode were recently disclosed by Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh who on Sept. 17 not only confirmed that the fighter jets providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) were F-22 stealth fighters but also said that:

“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home’”

If the episode went exactly as Welsh described it, it was something more similar to Maverick’s close encouter with Russian Mig-28s in Top Gun movie than a standard interception.

It would be interesting to know how the Raptor managed to remain stealth (did they use their radar? were they vectored by an AWACS? etc.) and why it was not the E-2 most probably providing Airborne Early Warning in the area to broadcast the message to persuade the F-4 to pursuit the drone before the Iranian Phantoms and the U.S. Raptors got too close in a potentially dangerous and tense situation?

Anyway the U.S. pilot achieved to scare the Iranian pilots off and save the drone. A happy ending worthy of an action movie.

This post originally appeared at The Aviationist. Copyright 2013.

Ironic that the Iranians were flying US built aircraft that  supplied to the Shah's regime before the Islamist revolution. F- 22 on F4s. No chance. I would also go home!

Low vs High capability Aircraft. F 4's not even on the list!

Iran Jet Photoshop Epic Fail!

Stealth Jet Epic Fail

Iran has been caught out in another Photoshop blunder in an effort to prove its purported stealth fighter jet is the real deal.

An Iranian state news agency released a new picture of the radar-dodging jet flying above snow-covered mountains.

But the picture was immediately suspected to be fake, with the lighting on the plane and its position similar to its appearance in pictures on the ground in Tehran at the unveiling earlier this month.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described it as "among the most advanced fighter jets in the world", capable of hitting ground and air targets by stealth, but experts dismissed it as a "laughable fake" which looks like a toy or mock-up model.

Now the new picture has also been laughed off, after it was revealed by The Atlantic Wire that the background image of the mountain was taken from the stock image site PickyWallpapers.com.

Aviation experts have questioned whether the jet shown can even fly as it was too small to accommodate a real pilot and the controls and wiring looked too simple. It also lacked the bolts and rivets found on all aircraft and offered wonky aerodynamics.

In 2008, news wire Agence France-Presse had to retract an official image of an Iran missile launch following revelations it was doctored to include an extra missile. The photo had appeared on the front pages of many media outlets including NYTimes.com and the front page of The Los Angeles Times.

In November last year Iran showed off a new drone design, but it was later revealed that the photographs it released were ripped off from a Japanese university and doctored.

Iran last month claimed to have successfully sent a monkey into space in a Pishgam rocket. That announcement was also accused of being faked as photographs of the monkey before and after showed two clearly different animals. Iran is sticking to its guns.

Sydney Morning Herald

Stealth Fighter for Iran

A Stealth Fighter, or just smoke and mirrors?

Fresh from controversy over a suspicious space-faring monkey, Iran is now under fire over a suspect stealth fighter jet breakthrough that one Australian defence analyst said "looks like it might make a noise and vibrate if you put 20 cents in".

Unveiling the Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) earlier this month, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad described it as "among the most advanced fighter jets in the world" with features including the ability to evade detection by radar and hit both ground and air targets.

Aviation experts have questioned whether the jet shown can even fly as it was too small to accommodate a real pilot and the controls and wiring looked too simple.

It also lacked the bolts and rivets found on all aircraft and offered wonky aerodynamics.

"It looks like the Iranians dumped some rudimentary flight controls and an ejection seat into a shell moulded in what they thought were stealthy angles," wrote Foreign Policy magazine.

Andrew Davies, senior defence analyst and director of research at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the jet was a "laughable fake".

"It looks like it might make a noise and vibrate if you put 20 cents in," he told Fairfax Media.

"I can see (almost) how North Korea gets away with transparent nonsense due to isolation, but Iran has a population that's much more switched on and connected, at least in the cities.

"I guess a possible explanation is that it plays well in the provinces, where people aren't as savvy."

Iranian state television did not show the jet take off or land but did show pictures of it purportedly flying - although some suspected it was just a remote-controlled aircraft depicted.

The country has reportedly struggled to upgrade its fleet since the 1980s due to tight sanctions.

Ahmedinejad said at the launch of the jet that Iran's advancement in military power was "for deterrence and defensive purposes" and also showed the country's will to "conquer scientific peaks".

The announcement was timed to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in which an Islamic regime replaced one that was backed by the United States.

The controversy comes after Iran last month claimed to have successfully sent a monkey into space in a Pishgam rocket. That announcement was also accused of being faked as photographs of the monkey before and after showed two clearly different animals.

Iran is sticking to its guns and Ahmedinejad has claimed he will personally be heading off into space.

In November last year Iran showed off a new drone design, but it was later revealed that the photographs it released were ripped off from a Japanese university and doctored.

In 2008, news wire Agence France-Presse had to retract an image of an Iran missile launch following revelations that it was doctored to include an extra missile.

The photo had appeared on the front pages of many media outlets including NYTimes.com and the front page of The Los Angeles Times.

- Sydney Morning Herald

Link to more images and why the Iranian Fighter is likely a mock-up and cannot fly:

http://www.businessinsider.com/irans-new-qaher-313-new-stealth-jet-cant-fly-2013-2?op=1