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From: jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Iraqi AWACS ?
Summary: Ilyushin IL-76 Mainstay
Message-ID: <1991Feb7.012105.29103@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 7 Feb 91 01:21:05 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.044954.10294@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb5.034529.861@cbnews.att.com>
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From: jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher)
In article <1991Feb5.034529.861@cbnews.att.com>, bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) writes:
>   I don't believe Iraq has any Boeing E3 AWACS.  Currently only the U.S.,
>   NATO, and Saudi Arabia have any E3 AWACS.  Britain and France will soon
>   start getting theirs.
> 
>   I also don't think they have any E2C Hawkeye's (Navy's mini-AWACS) nor
>   any Soviet Tupolev "Moss" (Soviet's AWACS).  So, I don't know what
>   they are talking about.

The Iraqi AWACS aircraft in question is the Ilyushin IL-76 Mainstay, a version
of the IL-76 Candid four-engine military jet transport operated by the
Soviet Air Force.  The Candid is roughly the Soviet equivalent of the
Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and has essentially the same configuration as
its American counterpart (high wing, four engines in individual underwing
pods, high horizontal tail, etc).  The Mainstay differs from the Candid by
having a large saucer-shaped housing for a radar antenna mounted high above
the top of the fuselage.

I rememeber reading that the Iraqis acquired two Mainstays from the Soviets.
One was destroyed in the initial attack of Desert Storm, the other has
fled to Iran.


Joe Baugher				**************************************
ihlpm!jfb                           Who, me?  Speak for AT&T?  Surely you jest!	
jfb200@cbnewsd.att.com