Brigadier General Majid Kazemi, a Su-24 fighter pilot, was killed alongside three of his crewmates during the attack on the air base in Qatar. (Press TV)
A top Iranian commander revealed that pilots from the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) used no navigation systems, not even GPS, to carry out daring airstrikes against bases housing United States forces in the region at the start of the war.
In remarks published by Iranian media on August 5, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jafari, deputy coordinator of the air force, described the March 2 airstrike carried out by Su-24 fighter bombers against the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which typically houses 10,000 U.S. service members, as “successful.”
On the very same day, F-5 fighter jets from the IRIAF targeted Camp Buehring, a major staging ground for the U.S. military in Kuwait.
The Iranians “have become accustomed to operating under sanctions. Our Air Force pilots have learned to fly missions without GPS or INS (inertial navigation system), relying instead on map reading and basic navigation techniques,” Jafari said.
“Perhaps our trump card was that we emitted no signals whatsoever—not even radio transmissions or any other electronic emissions from the aircraft,” he added.
The commander further noted that in the early days of the U.S.-Israeli war, the enemies probably never imagined that the IRIAF would have the courage to carry out such a mission.
He added that the U.S. air defense network went on alert when Camp Buehring came under attack, causing the downing of three American F-15 fighter jets by Kuwaiti friendly fire.
Four pilots aboard the Su-24 fighters launched the mission against the al-Udeid Air Base from the Martyr Dowran Air Base in Shiraz, according to Jafari. The body of one of the pilots, Brigadier General Majid Kazemi, returned home recently, but the fate of three others remains unknown.
Qatar maintains that the airstrike failed and the two Su-24s involved were shot down before reaching al-Udeid Air Base. However, the U.S. has acknowledged that Iranian F-5s successfully attacked Camp Buehring in Kuwait. That airstrike marked the first successful attack by a foreign fighter jet on U.S. forces in several decades.
Iran fought fiercely during the war, using every means at its disposal to prevent the U.S. and Israel from realizing their goals. The conflict is not over yet, but currently, the situation is clearly in favor of the Islamic Republic.
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