US fighter jet crashes 20 miles nw of Baghdad

[itsmesgd]

Still breaking but it appears to have been an f-16cg (radar jamming) These usually fly in support of operations on the ground. No word on the status of the pilot. If the pilot was able to eject, search and rescue ops would be immediately underway.

This is hostile territory.

[itsmesgd]

1. cnn is reporting

that it is unknown whether or not the plane was shot down or crashed from mechanical issues.

[leftchick]

2. isn't all of Iraq "hostile territory"?

:shrug:

[itsmesgd]

3. very true

but this is in the Anbar Province. This is part of the country that we do not even patrol anymore. Let's hope that the pilot is safely rescued before the locals get the chance to torture the pilot per our policies towards prisoners.

[hippiechick]

9. Why don't we patrol it ?

Do all the democracy loving Iraqi's have houses with picket fences and cable tv, and their children skip happily to public school where they make paper mache flowers to give their heroes, the US Troops?

:sarcasm:

Oh wait. Maybe not. Mission Accomplished, Dimson ... :freak:

[uppityperson]

11. some is only hostile, some is very very hostile.

Think this is one of the areas that has the most hatred toward the occupation.

[Captain Hilts]

4. It's amazing how rarely this happens. I hope they find him. The $44m jet is dead.

We could use P-51s for these operations rather than $44m dollar jets.

[leftchick]

5. yeah but then

the Defense contractors get to replace them so someone is happy. :puke:

[0007]

8. What do most third world counties use?

[davepc]

15. For ECM/EW/ELINT missions...whatever they have available to them

Mostly old French jets like the Dassault Falcon 20's in use by a number of nations including: Central African Republic, Chile, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela.

The Mirage 2000 is popular as well, India relies on it.

Some nations have F-16's they purchased from us, but they're more useful to the nations that have them as fighter/bombers then ECM aircraft.

[Benhurst]

19. What's $44 Million to The World's Only Superpower?

We may not have national health or a decent infrastructure; but, by gawd, the military/industrial complex gets anything it wants.

We're NUMBER ONE!

[OhioChick]

6. U.S. Air Force jet carrying 1 pilot crashes in Iraq

POSTED: 8:09 a.m. EST, November 27, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A U.S. Air Force jet carrying one pilot crashed in Iraq on Monday, the military said.

The F-16CG was supporting coalition ground forces when it went down about 1:35 p.m., about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad in Anbar province, the military said in a brief statement that contained no information about the cause of the crash or the fate of the pilot.

Mohammed Al-Obeidi, an Iraqi who lives in the nearby town of Karmah, said he saw the jet flying up and down erratically before it nose-dived and exploded in a farm field.

He said other U.S. warplanes rushed to the crash site and were circling around it.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/27/iraq.plane.crash.ap/index.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Seems the US is becoming a more vulnerable target

The Iraqis have had a number of successes in the last couple of weeks and months. This will only embolden them. I wonder if they are planning to wait for Bush to get to Jordan before they try to take the Green Zone?

[htuttle]

10. "Radar jamming"? The insurgents have radar?

I'd assume it was in the form of radar-guided SAMs? Do they make man-portable versions of those, or are we talking about something mounted on a vehicle?

Oh, and I'm sure the thing crashed due to 'mechanical malfunction' or 'pilot error', or something like that. Yeah, right...

[davepc]

12. Radar based SAM systems don't fit the insurgent profile

They require relatively large, slow, hard to hide radar arrays that are easily detected and destroyed as soon as they're turned on.

Man portable heat-seeking based systems are much more practical for defeating air assets.

And strangely enough, planes do crash -- even in war zones -- without being shot down.

It does happen.

If the insurgents do have access to man portable SAM's (and I'm sure there are enough laying around Iraq that work) then it would be a waste to use them on fighter jets, much more bang for your buck shooting at lower flying, slower moving higher crew/passenger capacity helicopters. You're more likely to hit, and more likely to case more damage.

[itsmesgd]

13. cnn said that the plane had been engaging ground targets

the story went on to say that the plane had been "on a strafing run". This is contrary to the model designation of CG which is for high altitude radar jamming. If we look at this as another episode of equiptment being used for "out of designation employment" this makes more sense as to how it could have crashed or have been shot down, or at least within the range of small arms. "Out of designation employment" is the same problem that we have had with canvas topped humvees taking the place of armored personnel carriers. This further shows how il-equipted the troops are.

[davepc]

17. The F-16CG/DG can carry a conventional bomb load.

The Block 40/42 and Block 50D/52D aircraft look similar but have different missions/ordinance load-outs.

The 40/42's can carry GBU-10, 12, 15 and 24's

the 50D/52D carry HARM and Shrike Anti-radiation missiles and their accompanying avionics/tracking systems.

I can't imagine there is much of a SEAD role in Iraq these days.

[itsmesgd]

18. you sound as though you have direct knowledge

are you a former airman?
I think it's funny/nice to see posts on here that can put their money where there mouth is. There are tons of opinion posts (not a bad thing), but direct knowledge is welcomed on posts addressing actual events and actions.

One Dave to another.

[Stella_Artois]

20. Correct

But a lot of these ECM platforms are being used in Iraq and Astan in a new role, witness the Nimrod R2 that went down recently.

They are being used to monitor and locate the sources of mobile phone communications "walkie talkies" , and radio command detonated IED's, and probably the jamming of the same.

All that hitech comms gear packed into these airframes is being of some use, just not in a way or a war anyone expected.

[htuttle]

14. Okay -- so then why is the Air Force deploying radar jammers?

Are they that low on jets that they had to? Would there be any other reason to endanger an asset like a specialized radar jammer on a mission where it wasn't needed?

[spinbaby]

16. Some detail

Inside an article with a headline about the buring oil facility, there is this:

After the F-16CG jet went down, a witness said other U.S. warplanes rushed to the crash site about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad and circled above it. The U.S. military, which released a statement on the crash, did not have any information on the suspected cause or the fate of the pilot.

But Al-Jazeera television showed videotape of the wreckage in a field and what appeared to be portions of a tangled parachute nearby, and the broadcaster said the video included scenes of the dead pilot but that they were too graphic to air.

One shot showed an Air Force seal that said Air Combat Command.

Mohammed Al-Obeidi, who lives in the nearby town of Karmah, said by telephone that he saw the jet flying erratically before it nose-dived and exploded in a field.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq