Samurra Air Battle

Samurra Air Battle
Part of the air campaign of the Persian Gulf War
Date30 January 1991
Location
Result Iraqi victory
Belligerents
 United States Iraq Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Col. Randy Bigum
Capt. Thomas Dietz
1st Lt. Robert Hehemann
1st Lt. Lynn Broome
Capt. Mahmoud Awad
Capt. Mohammed Jassim as-Sammarai
Strength
"Xerex 31": 2 F-15C
"Xerex 33": 2 F-15C
No. 96 Sqn: 1 MiG-25
No. 97 Sqn: 1 MiG-25
Casualties and losses
2 F-15s shot down
(Iraqi claim)[1]
at least 1 F-15 damaged
(US claim)[2]
None

Operation Samurra was an operation by the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) during the Gulf War to decisively engage McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle fighters from the United States Air Force (USAF) using Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 interceptors, and break the "wall" of F-15s that the Coalition had established along Iraq's border with Iran. It demonstrated the last true offensive operation of the IQAF before grounding their air assets in an attempt to preserve them for future use. Through careful planning and coordination, two MiG-25 jets successfully caught two USAF F-15 fighters, of the 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Al Kharj Air Base, off guard and engaged them in a dogfight.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference IraqiDoc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cooper, Tom. "Exhumating the Dead Iraqi Air Force". ACIG. Air Combat Information Group. Retrieved 30 November 2016.