Gotenks
12-12-2003, 05:19 PM
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Evidence supporting the belief that Saddam Hussein may have buried his stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons has been uncovered, quite literally. The Department of Defense revealed earlier this month that U.S. search teams had discovered a squadron of fighter aircraft buried in the deserts of Iraq.
Nearly 30 aircraft were uncovered at the al-Taqqadum airfield west of Baghdad, including Mach 3 capable MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ high-speed fighters and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft had been buried without their wings in 20-30 feet of sand, covered with plastic sheeting to protect vital parts, and appeared serviceable. Prewar intelligence reports indicated that the Iraqi Air Force had approximately 300 combat aircraft, mostly comprised of Soviet-made jets, including MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ fighters, Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground-attack jets and the aforementioned MiG-25s.
The Pentagon released a series of twelve photographs documenting the excavation of one of the MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ reconnaissance aircraft. Oddly, though identified by the DoD as a MiG-25R, the aircraft in the photos is, in fact, a MiG-25RBT - a dedicated electronic-intelligence gathering (ELINT) variant built between 1978 and 1982. The location of the dielectric panels and the ECM fairings on the intakes make such an identification unmistakeable. Iraq is known to have upgraded a portion of its camera-equipped MiG-25R fleet to the -RBT standard in 1984-86, with incremental indigenous avionic and signals-intercept intelligence (SIGINT) upgrades in the early 1990s. An Iraqi air force MiG-25 fighter is credited with Iraq’s only air-to-air victory during Operation Desert Storm, having shot-down Navy pilot Lieutenant Commander Michael Scott Speicher, whose fate remains uncertain to this day, more than 12 years after the loss of his F/A-18 Hornet fighter.
The discovery of the aircraft points to the extreme methods typical of the former Ba’athist regime, employed to conceal their activities according to U.S. Representative Porter Gross, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. While individually, the aircraft are not of great value, the discovery of such a large number of such critical equipment and the effort it would have taken to hide them causes some to believe there is much more hidden in the Iraqi desert.
Using the newly-recovered MiGs to make a larger point, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained “Until you find somebody who tells you where to look, or until nature clears some sand away and exposes something over time, we’re simply not going to know [the extent of what has been hidden and where it is.]” According to Rumsfeld, U.S. troops had been operating in the immediate vicinity of the airfield for more than three months before the aircraft were discovered.
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/1174303.jpg
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/1174308.jpg
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/1174312.jpg
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/11743mig25c-med.jpg
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/11743mig25a-med.jpg
http://www.corral.net/photopost/data/500/11743mig25d-med.jpg
Evidence supporting the belief that Saddam Hussein may have buried his stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons has been uncovered, quite literally. The Department of Defense revealed earlier this month that U.S. search teams had discovered a squadron of fighter aircraft buried in the deserts of Iraq.
Nearly 30 aircraft were uncovered at the al-Taqqadum airfield west of Baghdad, including Mach 3 capable MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ high-speed fighters and reconnaissance aircraft. The aircraft had been buried without their wings in 20-30 feet of sand, covered with plastic sheeting to protect vital parts, and appeared serviceable. Prewar intelligence reports indicated that the Iraqi Air Force had approximately 300 combat aircraft, mostly comprised of Soviet-made jets, including MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ fighters, Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’ ground-attack jets and the aforementioned MiG-25s.
The Pentagon released a series of twelve photographs documenting the excavation of one of the MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ reconnaissance aircraft. Oddly, though identified by the DoD as a MiG-25R, the aircraft in the photos is, in fact, a MiG-25RBT - a dedicated electronic-intelligence gathering (ELINT) variant built between 1978 and 1982. The location of the dielectric panels and the ECM fairings on the intakes make such an identification unmistakeable. Iraq is known to have upgraded a portion of its camera-equipped MiG-25R fleet to the -RBT standard in 1984-86, with incremental indigenous avionic and signals-intercept intelligence (SIGINT) upgrades in the early 1990s. An Iraqi air force MiG-25 fighter is credited with Iraq’s only air-to-air victory during Operation Desert Storm, having shot-down Navy pilot Lieutenant Commander Michael Scott Speicher, whose fate remains uncertain to this day, more than 12 years after the loss of his F/A-18 Hornet fighter.
The discovery of the aircraft points to the extreme methods typical of the former Ba’athist regime, employed to conceal their activities according to U.S. Representative Porter Gross, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. While individually, the aircraft are not of great value, the discovery of such a large number of such critical equipment and the effort it would have taken to hide them causes some to believe there is much more hidden in the Iraqi desert.
Using the newly-recovered MiGs to make a larger point, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained “Until you find somebody who tells you where to look, or until nature clears some sand away and exposes something over time, we’re simply not going to know [the extent of what has been hidden and where it is.]” According to Rumsfeld, U.S. troops had been operating in the immediate vicinity of the airfield for more than three months before the aircraft were discovered.