When An F-14 Tomcat With Failed Missiles Made An Iraqi MiG-23 Crash In 1999 #shorts
8,306On January 5, 1999, two F-14 Tomcats and a Squadron of F/A-18 Hornets were dispatched over southern Iraq. A flight of F-15 Eagles targeted one of the Iraqi interceptors' formations while they were active over the southern No Fly Zone. A little while later, two MiG-23s with jamming pods showed up. The Tomcats and Hornets were given the go-ahead to open fire after the AWACS spotted them all. The Iraqis scrambled a MiG-25 when the F-14s engaged in combat. One AIM-54C was launched at the MiG-23s by the lead F-14, and a second was fired by the wingman. However, both Phoenix missiles fell to the surface without ever igniting their engines since they were improperly equipped. The Tomcats were instructed to leave toward the south after the Foxbat remained in sight for a while. Both MiG-23s had to make an emergency landing at Rashid Air Base due to low fuel. The leader touched down safely, but sadly, the wingman passed away when his aircraft crashed after running out of fuel. The commander of the CVW-11 argued that a kill is a kill, even if the US Navy never acknowledged it as an official kill.
#shorts #youtubeshorts #f14tomcat #missiles #mig23 #1999