Operation Sultan 10

Operation Sultan 10
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Location	Northern Iraq
Planned by	Col. Afshar Maj. Showqi
Commanded by	Col. Afshar
Target	Al-Hurriah Airbase, Iraq
Date	29 October 1980 (1980-10-29)
Executed by	Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 32nd Squadron 33rd Squadron
Operational success
Casualties	1 airbase bombed 1 French technician killed, another one injured 2 MiG-21 fighters and 3 Mil Mi-8 helicopters destroyed on the ground Dogfight: 4 MiG-23 fighters downed 3 pilots killed, 1 pilot captured

Operation Sultan 10 (Persian: عملیات سلطان ١٠) was an operation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) on 29 October 1980, at the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War. In this operation, six F-4E Phantom IIs from IRIAF's 32nd and 33rd Squadrons took part in an attack on the Al-Hurriah Airbase near Mosul in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Motivation

In the last days of October 1980, commanders of the 1st Tactical Air Base (TAB 1) of Iran in Tehran received intelligence that French engineers had been sent to Iraq and a number of Mirage F1s that the Iraqi Air Force had bought from France were stationed at Al-Hurriah Airbase. The personnel of the French Air Force were appointed to train Iraqi pilots and technicians to use Mirage F1s.

Operation

Setup

The operation was called Sultan-10, meaning only 10 fighters were supposed to cross the border (Sultan 1 to 10). The target was 180 miles inside Iraq at Mosul. Eight Phantom fighters (code-named Sultan 1 through 6, plus two as reserve), three Tomcat fighters (Sultan 7 and 8, plus one as reserve), and three Boeing 707 tankers (Sultan 9 and 10, plus one as reserve) were planned for the operation. Both Tomcat fighters were to guard the tankers since loss of the tankers would cost the loss of all six Phantoms. If the operational team crossed Iran's border and headed straight to Mosul, they would have come across Air Defence bases which were supplied with SA-2, SA-3, and SA-6 surface-to-air missiles. The Iranian commanders ordered radio silence and started the operation before dawn. Just before crossing into Iraq, the aircraft refueled and used Turkish airspace to enter Iraq. The tankers and Tomcats stayed at low altitude and waited for the Phantoms' return.

While protecting the tankers, the radar of one of the Tomcats was always switched off to reduce recognition possibilities by Iraq.

Meanwhile, the attack team bombed Mosul and was on their way to Iran. Because they were carrying the maximum capacity of air-to-surface missiles, none of the Phantoms had air-to-air missiles.

Dogfight

By advantage of AN/AWG-9 (radar), the Tomcats noticed that four fighters were headed toward the Phantoms at 40 miles. As the Phantoms did not have any missiles to protect themselves, Sultan-7 (Captain Sedqi) and Sultan-8 (Captain Tayebi) were ordered to protect them. The Tomcats headed toward them and raised their altitude to 15,000 feet. Their existence went unnoticed, so they raised to 20,000 ft and again to 22,000 ft.

The Sultan-7 fighter was equipped with two AIM-54, two AIM-9, and three AIM-7 missiles. The Sultan-8 was equipped with two AIM-9 and six AIM-7 missiles.

At 45 miles, the four fighters were recognized as Mig-23s. Sultan-7 ordered both Tomcats to turn on their electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM); after a while, Sultan-7's system failed and Sultan-8 ECCM had to cover both aircraft. At 20 miles from the four Mig-23, Captain Sedqi told his co-pilot to prepare two AIM-54 Phoenix missiles.

The first missile launched, followed eight seconds later by the second. The first missile destroyed the target aircraft upon impact. The second one appeared not to have hit it directly, but the co-pilot stated that it paralyzed the plane. Sultan-8 confirmed this, along with a report indicating that the warhead exploded either earlier or later than intended. Iraqi fighters now noticed the danger and reduced their altitude, which Iranian pilots said was the mistake that made their work easier.

At only 7 miles to the Mig-23s, Sultan-7 and 8 were to launch their missiles together, but Sultan-8's CSD system was not working, meaning he could not use its missiles and only could use the M61 Vulcan. Captain Sedqi (Sultan-7) told Sultan-8 to stay close to Sultan-9 and Sultan-10 and wait until he came back. Sedqi turned on the afterburner and the two Mig-23s split up, with the leader going right and the follower going left.

Sedqi chased the leader and released first AIM-7 which hit the tail and seconds later a wing detached and it leaped toward the ground. Then the co-pilot noticed that the other Mig-23 was approaching from behind. Sedqi shut the afterburner off and by performing a maneuver, reduced the speed from 520 mph to 150 mph and took the nose cone down, toward the Mig-23 that was now passing below. It shot its second AIM-7, which hit the Mig-23's tail and sent it down. Its pilot ejected and was the only pilot from the four Mig-23s who survived. One of the killed Iraqi pilots was Ahmad Sabah, who had shot down two Northrop F-5 of the IRIAF in the early days of the war.