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From: smpod@saturn.lerc.nasa.gov (Stefan)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Obsolete Soviet Air Defenses?
Message-ID: <1991Mar14.040143.28023@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Mar 91 04:01:43 GMT
References: <1991Mar6.035834.22525@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar12.224433.24749@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (william.b.thacker)
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From: smpod@saturn.lerc.nasa.gov (Stefan)
In anthony@cs.uq.oz.au (Anthony Lee) writes...
/In (Michael Edelman) writes:
//In medium and short range defenses the Iraqis were overloaded with radar
//guided guns (AAA). It was hypothesized that the Iraqis chose guns as they
//can also be used in a ground defense situation, and would have been useful
//in the war with Iran.
/ 
/Consequently there's very little need to develop air defence.

Not quite true. Pilots who flew over Hanoi, said that the flak over
Iraq was denser!

I think that the main reason that the Iraqi air defenses were so ineffective
was that their central command and communications were knocked out on the
first day. The only aircraft that flew over Bagdad were F-117As.  Any Iraqi
radar that dared to show its 'face' were knocked out by HARMs.  The Iraqis 
were not willing to turn on their radars for sufficient enough time to get
some benefit except for escaping to Iran.