Do you suppose that Iran can shoot down US bombers?

[The_Casual_Observer]

I would imagine that they could do that pretty easily.

[KeepItReal]

1. Not the stealths...

B-2 and F117's are hard to hit.

Plus we rely on cruise missiles alot also.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. I understand that the effectiveness of stealth and the

ability of the cruise missile to hit a target without a pre planted homing beacon or radio signal are largely bogus. As one might expect.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. We've had special forces on the ground in there for months. Want to guess

what they have been up to?

[Drum]

2. I think they just shot down a drone-plane,

probably a US one, so Iran is practicing and apparently so is the US

[SofaKingLiberal]

4. Unidentified “spy drone” crashes in western Iran

They claim it hit a mountain.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3499

[Drum]

5. oops, my bad

I guess I hadn't read "shot down"...more likely "recovered"
but makes ya wonder, huh? Read the story here at the DU of course, here's a link to the drone thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1732320

[hobbit709]

3. i'd be more worried about what they could do to the Navy.

Some intelligence estimates say they have at least a hundred "Sunburn" missiles.

[KeepItReal]

11. I agree there. If we have any carriers or Marine baby carriers in the Gulf

They would be in for a rough ride if Bush & Co. start sh*t with Iran.

[rwenos]

7. The More Interesting Question Is

What the American public will do when the American military (which, say what you like, is the best in the world) runs into a real opposing force. As good as the Yanks are, the Iranians are not the paper tiger the Iraqis were, from what I've read.

Our military will probably do fine, but, in the words of General Buck Turgidson, "It's not like we wouldn't get our hair mussed." (He was referring to 50 million dead in a nuclear exchange with the Soviets, in "Dr. Strangelove.")

My prediction: the military would serve loyally, with distinction, and prevail in the end. But are the American People prepared for 50,000 body bags?

[TomInTib]

8. Can you name a country US has invaded in last 50 years..

That had a competent Air Force/Defense?

Now THAT'S hard work.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. They seemed to have avoided the "hard cases"

And prefer to fight against relatively defenseless countries. However, the North Vietnamese gave them a run for their money with those WWI era "Jane Fonda" guns! Downed who knows how many B1's and B52's.

[pocket]

17. we pick on the weak

like all bullies

[happyslug]

10. Yes they can, but the US has a very Strong Air Attack capability.

Since Vietnam (where the North Vietnamese shoot down a lot of US Planes with guided missiles) the policies of almost all Air Forces since Vietnam have been to fly in low. This minimize the time missiles can lock in on your planes (This also makes the Planes easier to be shot down by hand portable missiles, i.e. Stingers, AND AA fire from Rifles and Machine Guns but that is preferred to being surly shot down by a guided missile).

Can the US attack Iran by Air? The US did it to Saddam during Desert Storm (I mean the 1991 war where Saddam had a semblance of an Air Force, not the 2002 Attack where his AA defenses had been destroyed over ten years of bombing).

Since 2002 both Iran and Saudi Arabia have updated their Air Defenses so neither should be the push over Saddam was in 2002 (and both should do a better job than Saddam did in 1991). The real issue will be can the US defeat these Air Defenses, or will the US just avoid the whole problem by using Cruise Missiles (Or Other "Stand Off" Weapons). Once one side or the other wins the Air War, that will decide on the next stage. If the US Wins the Air War than US Ground forces can go in, if the Iranians win the Air War (and by Winning I mean keep their Air Defenses up and shooting) than the US will NOT be able to launch a ground assault.

As to the B-2 Stealth Bomber, it can ONLY be used at night. It is to slow and hard to maneuver bomber to be used during the day. If used during the day anyone can shoot it down, all you have to do is see it, any plane made since WWII could than shoot it down (As can anyone with any AA gun or missiles from WWII onward). At night the B-2 can NOT be spotted by eyesight AND its design prevents detection by Radar. In such an environment it can come in and NOT be spotted. Even during WWII both sides had to use Radar on Planes to detect enemy night bombers coming to bomb, that still true today. The B-2 ability to be undetected by Radar makes it almost impossible to shoot down at night when it is almost exclusively used.

Side-Note: Reports from Serbia indicated that during the bombing to force Serbia to settle the problem of Kosovo, Serbia imported in some AA guns from the Czech Republic which uses computers and sounds to detect plans instead of Radar. This is believed to have shoot down the F-117 Stealth Fighter lost during that conflict. The system worked like this. A series of these guns are placed over a wide area interconnected by Phone lines. The Phone lines hook up computers on each gun. Each gun has attached to it a listening device to gather and determine the direction of the sounds of a Jet Engine. The Computers than use the collection of such sounds to determine the Range, height and direction of the Plane and set the guns to fire. The US seemed to have withdrawn the F-117 from Serbia right afterward.

Now the B-2 Stealth is more sophisticated than the F-117 but the basic system is the same (based on a paper written by a Russian Scientist in the 1970s). If the Iranian have a similar (or improved System) the Stealth may not be worth the money we have spent on it (It seems that the Russians had the opinion that Stealth was to easily countered by upcoming technology for the old Soviet Union to develop it, preferring to develop a series of radar systems that duplicated each other to offset the technology advantage of the West. i.e. developed at least three UNRELATED Radar systems that the West had to deal with).

Unlike the USSR, the US decided Stealth was worth the effort for it could defeat the Duplication of Radar system of the Russians by one technology instead of 3-4 needed to defeat each of the Russian radar systems. Thus Stealth was adopted by the US and rejected by the USSR.

I do not what to say that Stealth may be a dead alley in technology but the real issue do the Iranians have a method to counter the B-2's Stealth Design? If yes, it is dead, if NO it will deliver a hugh defeat on Iranian defenses.

[jzodda]

12. Yes but....

Any plane can always be shot down but having said that Iran's air defense capability is no greater then Iraq's was at the start of the first gulf war back in 1991.....and we all know what happened there

Their equipment is a mix of 60s-mid 70s US equipment and Soviet equipment- so the quality is generally poor all around

[Renew Deal]

14. Not anymore than anyone else.

There best chance would be if they could get some flights off the ground. That woulnd't happen for long.

[Horse with no Name]

15. I couldn't tell you

But maybe those Iranians should let the Mexicans immigrate there--I hear they can take down helicopters with rocks.

[Jara sang]

16. Iran's capabilities:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/weapons.htm