THE ONLY RECORDED HELICOPTER DOGFIGHTS IN HISTORY The protracted Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88 among other things, saw the only confirmed helicopter dogfights in the history of warfare. The first occurred on the opening day of the war - 22nd Sept 1980, when a pair of Iranian Bell AH1J Super Cobras jumped a pair of Iraqi Mi25 Hinds (export Mi24) from behind and hit them with TOW anti tank missiles. One Mi25 went down immediately while the other limped away severely damaged, only to crash before reaching base. On 24th April the Iranian Cobras repeated a similar victory without suffering loss. On 14th September 1983, the Iraqis with their Hinds returned the favor and destroyed one Iranian Sea Cobra...and equalized by shooting down three more Cobras on 5th February 1984. They claimed a further three Iranian cobras on 25th February 1984. On 13th Feburary 1986 both sides lost a gunship each. Iran lost another Cobra to a Hind on 16th February but recovered and downed a Hind on 18th February. The last of the extraordinary air-to air engagements took place on 22nd May1986 when a Sea Cobra was shot out of the sky by Iraqi Hinds. In all 10 Cobras were lost against 6 Hinds. While the overall numbers are disputed by the warring parties, Iraqi Hinds claimed a total of 43 air-to-air kills which included transport helicopters and other aircraft. Amazingly one Hind even managed to down an Iranian F4 Phantom jet fighter. The Iranians lost a further two Cobras to Soviet Mig23s in 1988, when they accidentally strayed into Afghan airspace. Soviet analysis put the total number of air to air helicopter engagements during the war at 53. The first picture is a photoshopped dramatization.
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 19:51:58 +0000
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