IRAQI MIRAGES

IRAQI MIRAGES
THE DASSAULT MIRAGE FAMILY IN SERVICE WITH IRAQI AIR FORCE, 1981-1988
MIDDLE EAST @ WAR No.17
Publisher: Helion & Company
Author: Tom Cooper & Milos Sipos
ISBN 978-1-912390-31-1
Written language: English
Written by: Miroslav D. Šljivić
English translation: Nikola D. Rađenović


Dassault Mirage F.1 by its looks and lines is one of the most elegant jet fighters of all time. If we disregard its fantastic design and consider only the flying characteristics deftly combined with a very wide specter of equipment and armament, we get a very usable system for those who use it as well as a very nasty opponent. Considering that the F.1 was used in many aviation around the world as well as in many conflicts, we can undoubtedly assume that its service was full of interesting stories in terms of many fields like military history, geopolitics, economy... One of the very complex stories can be found in the book IRAQI MIRAGES (THE DASSAULT MIRAGE FAMILY IN SERVICE WITH IRAQI AIR FORCE, 1981-1988) where we get a complete story about this amazing airplane in the Iraqi Air Force during the war with Iran. Two verified authors, Tom Cooper and Milos Sipos shared with us a complete timeline from the idea of getting the F.1 for Iraqi Air Force from The BAZ Project through its whole service life in Iraqi Squadrons with all problems following introduction and exploitation of this type during the war with Iran to the arrival of the last ordered version F.1EQ-6 which was more advance in some specifications even from the same airplane which was used in the French Air Force. Besides great portrayals of the combat use of F.1 like the famous maneuver „Girrafe“ when Iraqi pilots managed to take down Iranian F-14 Tomcat in a very skillful way, the use of great French containers/devices for electronic reconnaissance and combat (Remora, Caiman, Syrel...), the use of anti-ship rockets Egzose (AM.39 Exocet) as well as other French, Spanish, South African equipment. Nevertheless, the book has a very rich review of political (open interventions and backstage playings), economical and financial battles that happened during procurement, and using these aircraft in the Iraqi Air Force. IAF had F.1EQ-2, F.1EQ-4, F.1EQ-5, F.1EQ-6 versions, and two-seaters for training as well as F.1BQ. Through a detailed explanation of each model, the reader gets a clear picture of how well was the development of the aircraft and its systems which was very dynamic. Because of these systems (many of them were in the development progress when Iraq was ordering) which were used on F.1, the Iraqi Army got „eyes and ears“ for the first time as well as great subsystems which were side by side with Iranian electronic systems of all kinds. Mirage F.1 was successfully paired with the Soviet aircraft technology (there are great explanations and drawings in the book) and with that upgrade, Iranian defense had severe problems. In the IRAQI MIRAGES book, there are well-reconstructed stories about the use of French Super Etandera (Super Etendard) with rockets Egzose (AM.39 Exocet) that were rented from the French Navy and all because of their good reputation from the Falkand War. Besides their changeable luck during their service, these airplanes were used in the „Oil Campaign“ as well as Dassault Falcon (with upgrades from Mirage F.1 and Exocet rockets). French airplane technics that Iraq used during the war with Iran from 1981 to 1988 played an important role in military and political-economic operations (one of the main goals was to make Irans production and export bellow 750000 barrels/day) and therefore it was decisive in some elements which gave an advantage to Iraq. This book has 88 pages of great information, clear text, illustrated with 120 photos, with a set of Mirage F.1, Super Etander, Falcon 50 profiles in color in the middle of the book by Tom Cooper as well as a unique Mirage 2000 in Iraqi scheme which never made into service. Like all books from this edition @WAR, IRAQI MIRAGES is more than a great piece in this collection and a base for further research on this subject. We hope that the tandem Cooper/Sipos is going to continue to bring us fantastic aviation themes like IRAQI MIRAGE. I would like to thank the authors as well as HELION&COMPANY for sending an issue of this magnificent book.

IRAQI MIRAGES
THE DASSAULT MIRAGE FAMILY IN SERVICE WITH IRAQI AIR FORCE, 1981-1988
MIDDLE EAST @ WAR No.17
Izdavač: Helion & Company
Autor: Tom Cooper & Milos Sipos
ISBN 978-1-912390-31-1
Jezik pisanja: engleski
Prilog: Miroslav D. Šljivić
Prevod priloga na engleski: Nikola D. Rađenović
Dasoov Miraž F.1 (Dassault Mirage F.1) je po svom izgledu i linijama bio i još uvek jeste jedan od najelegantnijih mlaznih aviona. Ako zanemarimo njegov fantastičan dizajn i u obzir uzmemo njegove letne karakteristike spretno ukomponovane sa veoma širokim spektrom opreme i naoružanja kojima je raspolagao dobijamo jedan veoma upotrebljiv sistem za one koji ga koriste i vrlo neprijatan za svakog protivnika. Obzirom da je F.1 korišćen u mnogim vazduhoplovstvima širom sveta i da je učestvovao u mnogim konfliktima onda nesumnjivo možemo da pretpostavimo da je njegov životni vek prepun veoma interesantnih priča iz oblasti vojne istorije, geopolotike, ekonomije... Jedna takva, veoma kompleksna, priča nam je priređena u knjizi IRAQI MIRAGES (THE DASSAULT MIRAGE FAMILY IN SERVICE WITH IRAQI AIR FORCE, 1981-1988) u kojoj dobijamo kompletnu sliku o ovom sjajnom avionu u Ratnom vazduhoplovstvu Iraka u periodu rata sa Iranom. Dvojica dokazanih autora, Tom Kuper i Miloš Šipoš (Tom Cooper & Milos Sipos) su na odličan način uspeli da prikažu kompletan tok od ideje za nabavku F.1 za iračko vazduhoplovstvo kroz projekat BAZ, ceo upotrebni vek u iračkim eskadrilama sa svim problemima koji su pratili uvođenje i eksploataciju ovog tipa u toku rata sa Iranom pa sve do samog dolaska poslednje naručene verzije F.1EQ-6 koja je bila naprednija u nekim stvarima i od aviona istog tipa koji su se koristili u francuskom RV-u. Pored sjajnih opisa same borbene upotrebe F.1 kao što je čuveni manevar „Žirafa“ kada su na vrlo vešt način irački piloti uspeli da po prvi put obore iranski F-14 Tomket, zatim upotrebu odličnih francuskih kontejnera/uređaja za elektronsko izviđanje i borbu (Remora, Caiman, Syrel...), korišćenje protivbrodskih raketa Egzose (AM.39 Exocet) kao i drugih sredstava francuskog, španskog, južnoafričkog i dr. porekla knjiga sadrži i vrlo bogat prikaz političkih (otvorenih intervencija i zakulisnih igara), ekonomskih i finansijskih borbi koje su se odigravale u vezi sa nabavkom i upotrebom ove vazduhoplovne familije u iračkom RV. Miraž F.1 je u iračkom vazduhoplovstvu bio zastupljen u verzijama F.1EQ-2, F.1EQ-4, F.1EQ-5, F.1EQ-6 i dvosedima za obuku i trenaž F.1BQ. i preko tih verzija tj. njihove opremljenosti i umešnosti u upotrebi čitalac dobija vrlo jasnu sliku o napretku razvoja celog aviona i njegovih podsistema koja je bila vrlo dinamična. Upravo zahvaljujući tim podsistemima (mnogi od njih su bili na papiru u vreme iračkog naručivanja) koji su se koristili na F.1 iračka armija je po prvi put dobila „oči i uši“ kao i odlične „elektronske bičeve“ kojima je uspevala da parira iranskim elektronskim sistemima svih vrsta. Miraži F.1 su bili odlično uparivani i sa sovjetskom vazduhoplovnom tehnikom (u knjizi su data odlična objašnjenja i skice) pa su i na taj način često predstavljali problem za iransku odbranu.  U knjizi IRAQI MIRAGES se nalaze i dobro obrađene priče u vezi sa upotrebom francuskih Super Etandera (Super Etendard) sa raketama Egzose (AM.39 Exocet) koji su bili iznajmljeni od francuske mornarice a sve zbog njihove dobre reputacije iz rata za Foklande. I pored promenljive sreće u upotrebi ovi avioni su takođe odigrali svoju ulogu u „naftnoj kampanji“ kao i prepravljeni Dasoovi Falkoni 50 (sa avionikom Miraža F.1 i Egzose raketama). Francuska vazduhoplovna tehnika koju su koristili Iračani u periodu rata sa Iranom od 1981-1988 je odigrala vrlo značajnu ulogu u vojnim i političko-ekonomskim operacijama (jedan od glavnih ciljeva je bio da se iranska proizvodnja i izvoz drže ispod 750000 barela na dan) te je ona u nekim elementima bila presudna da igla na tasu prevagne na iračku stranu. Knjiga IRAQI MIRAGES na svojih 88 strana sadrži odlične informacije, pitak tekst, ilustrovana je sa preko 120 gotografija, na sredini se nalazi set odličnih kolornih profila (autor Tom Kuper) Miraža F.1, Super Etandera, Falkona 50 i posebno kao unikat Miraža 2000 (u iračkim bojama ali koji nikada nije ušao u operativnu upotrebu). Kao i sve knjige iz ove edicije @WAR tako i IRAQI MIRAGES predstavlja više nego odličnu kockicu u mozaiku i osnovu za daljnje istraživanje ove teme. Nadam se da će nas tandem Kuper/Šipoš i dalje snabdevati odlično obrađenim vazduhoplovnim temama kao što je IRAQI MIRAGES. Zahvaljujem se autorima i HELION&COMPANY za poslati primerak ove odlične knjige.