Iraqi MiG-23s were actively used during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, both to combat enemy aircraft, and to strike ground targets. At the outbreak of the war, Iraq had 62 MiG-23s: 36 MiG-23BN (29th and 49th squadrons), 18 MiG-23MS (39th squadron) and 8 MiG-23UB (27th squadron). A total of 54 MiG-23BN, 18 MiG-23MS, 18 MiG-23MF, 54 MiG-23ML and a few dozen MiG-23UB were delivered.
According to Western statements, the aircraft used chemical weapons. According to official Iraqi data, Iraq Air Force aircraft did not use chemical weapons, as Major General Alwan al-Abusi pointed out, such weapons were used by artillery.
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On September 22, 1980, Iraq launched a massive air attack with 128 aircraft, including 36 MiG-23s at Iranian airbases. 12 MiG-23BN struck at the air base of Dizful. Three F-5s were destroyed, one HAWK missile system was destroyed, 18 ground personnel were killed, a runway and the radar system were hit. 5 MiG-23BN attacked the airbase of Ahajari. Two runways were damaged. 6 MiG-23BN struck at the airbase Hamedan. The runway and the ammunition depot have been damaged. 11 MiG-23MS struck at the air base Kermanshah. The runway was damaged. 2 MiG-23MS attacked Ahvaz the airbase. The runway was hit. Some Western sources claim that the Mehrabad airbase near Tehran was attacked byMiG-23BN. According to Iraqi data, Tu-22 bombers were used to strike at such a distant target. None of the MiG-23 was shot down during the attacks (only 3 MiG-23BN were damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Dizfull). In the second wave of the raids, 19 MiG-23 participated. Also there were no losses. 5 MiG-23BN struck at the airbase of Ahajari. Ammunition depots and storage with fuel were damaged. 13 MiG-23MS struck at the air base Kermanshah. The air defense installations were damaged. 1 MiG-23MS scorted 4 MiG-21bis, striking at the airbase Ahvaz.
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On September 23, MiG-23 again carried out several attacks on Iran. Air base Vahdati near Dizfull was attacked by 12 MiG-23BN. They came under strong anti-aircraft fire and one was shot down, the pilot R. Sadon was killed.
On September 24 Iraqi MiG-23BN struck at the Iranian naval base Bushehr. 250 patrol boats were sunk by bombs, heavy damage was received from a direct hit of a bomb by a PF-103 Naghdi class frigate,furthermore a MSC-268 Shahrokh minesweeper received a bomb hit and was burned.
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On April 4, 1981, according to Iranian statements, eight MiG-23BNs were destroyed by Iranian "Phantoms" at H-3 airfield, according to Iraqi official data, no MiG-23 was injured during the raid (only a MiG-21 was hit).
October 19, 1981 Iraqi MiG-23BN near the Iranian coast bombed the Panama transport ship Moira. The ship received heavy damage and caught fire (according to some sources it sank).
During the fighting for Ahvaz in March 1986, 56 Iraqi fighter-bombers (mostly MiG-23BN) struck at the concentrations of Iranian armored vehicles, up to 500 Chiften, M60 and M113 armored vehicles were destroyed and damaged.
On April 4, 1986, a 250-kg bomb of an Iraqi MiG-23BN caused damage to the Iranian tanker Shrivan.
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On December 2, 1981, an Iraqi MiG-23MS was hijacked at the Vahdati airbase in Iran. The Iraqis learned about this and a few hours later the plane was destroyed by air strikes.
Fighter modifications of MiG-23MS and MiG-23MF were used in the first half of the war, according to known data about 20 Iranian aircraft and helicopters were downed by the MiG-23s. In air combat battles, 2 MiG-23MS and 4-5 MiG-23MF were shot down. In 1983, a more advanced modification of the MiG-23ML was delivered to Iraq, the new variant was able to down 6 aircraft and 1 helicopter, while it suffered the the loss of 3 aircraft.
Among the famous Iraqi pilots who can be identified captain, is Omar Goben, who claimed 12 air to air victories over Iranian aircraft, at least one of which was confirmed. According to some sources, in 1980 he shot down two Iranian F-5s on a MiG-21 fighter. In December 1982, flying a MiG-23MF he shot down another F-5. On February 20, 1986 Goben aboard a MiG-23ML shot down an Iranian military transport aircraft Fokker F27, flying to the front line (killing 2 crew members and 49 military passengers). Captain Omar Goben died piloting a MiG-29 fighter in 1991, in a clash with American F-15s. Another Iraqi pilot, captain Ali Sabah, who piloted a MiG-23 and Mirage F1, was able to obtain three confirmed and three possible air victories. Pilot Major Muafak Mohamed Yasin aboard MiG-23MS and MiG-23MF of 39th Squadron and scored at least 2 air victories.
According to some Western researchers referring to indeterminate sources, only from September 1980 to January 1981, at least 40 aircraft of this type were shot down. Apparently, these data are based on Iranian statements. The Iranians claimed that during the entire war only 78 combat aircraft were shot down in air battles. If we compare the MiG-23 available at the beginning of the war, received during the war and left at the time of the war with Kuwait, then for 10 years, not even 30 losses will be scored. These losses amounted to 16 MiG-23BN, 6 MiG-23ML, 4 MiG-23MF and 3 MiG-23MS.
After the war, Iraq sent 9 MiG-23ML for repairs and upgrades to Serbia
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MiG-23s were widely used by Iraq in the war with Iran in 1980-88. By the beginning of the conflict, the Iraqi Air Force had the MiG-23MS and MiG-23MF, most of which had only recently been received from the USSR "Saddam's Falcons" did not have time to completely retrain on new equipment before the outbreak of hostilities, when Soviet aid to Iraq ceased. Therefore, Egyptian pilots with experience in flying the MiG-23 were invited to the country as instructors. Iraqi aviation was opposed by Iranian-made American aircraft F-4D / E "Phantom-2", F-5E "Tiger II" and F-14A "Tomcat". By mid-1983, Iraqi fighters (mainly MiG-21 and MiG-23), as well as air defense forces, managed to destroy more than 80 Iranian combat aircraft. The losses of Iraq amounted to 35 MiG-19, MiG-21 fighters and one MiG-25P, as well as six Mirage F.1, 44 Su-7B, Su-17 and Su-20. None of the MiG-23s were obviously lost during this period.
In the winter of 1983, deliveries of Soviet weapons to Iraq resumed. The disassembled MiG-23ML and MiG-27 arrived at the port of Aqaba in the Red Sea. The advent of new technology quickly affected the efficiency of using Iraqi aviation. Saddam Hussein’s pilots, having already gained some combat experience, began to practice low-profile flights, and when something appeared in the air that only remotely resembled the F-14, they were in no hurry to retreat, as it sometimes happened at the beginning of the war, but boldly entered the battle , relying on the high performance of its fighters. (It should be noted that the threat from the Tomcats was, to put it mildly, exaggerated: during the war, two F-14A were shot down by the Mirages F. 1EQ, and another five by MiG-21s. In turn, the Tomcats managed destroy only two Mirages R1, one MiG-21 and one helicopter). Since Iraq had both Soviet and Western-made aircraft, the specialists of this country widely practiced the modernization of the fleet, which made it possible to use “foreign” weapons on Soviet airplanes. Moreover, such work was carried out on their own, without coordination with the Design Bureau manufacturer and the involvement of specialists from the supplier country. For example, the F.1EQ Mirages were equipped with Soviet X-29L air-to-ground missiles, and the MiG-23MF and MiG-27ML, in turn, received the French air-to-air melee R.550 Magic (deliveries of the Soviet UR R-60M for a similar purpose began only in 1983), as well as the Exocet anti-ship missiles.
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Iraq used the MiG-23 during the War in the Persian Gulf (1990-1991). Before the war, according to Iraqi official data, Iraq had 127 MiG-23s: 38 MiG-23BN, 39 MiG-23ML, 14 MiG-23MF, 15 MiG-23MS and 21 MiG-23UB.
During the attacks on Kuwait, the Iraqi MiG-23BN destroyed two Kuwaiti Mirage F1CKs at the Ali al-Salem airbase. During the strikes at the al-Jaber airbase, the aircraft dropped bombs on the take-off strips, as a result of which three Kuwaiti Skyhawks crashed. On August 3, an Iraqi MiG-23BN was shot down by American antiaircraft gunners, the pilot M. al-Shawi was killed. This "MiG" was the only loss in the course of the Kuwaiti-Iraq war.
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During the Desert Storm operation, according to Iraqi data, the MiG-23MF shot down one F-16, using a R-23 air to air Missile. According to Argentine researcher Diego Zampini, Iraqi MiG-23, also on the first night of the conflict, also managed to destroy two F-111 bombers with air-to-air missiles. From the damage received, the aircraft were decommissioned . Officially, the Americans credited the F-111 and F-16 losses to anti-aircraft fire . According to American statements, American F-15 fighters shot down 6 MiG-23MF and 2 MiG-23 fighters during the period of January 26-29. At the same time, according to the official Iraqi report on losses in the war, only two MiG-23MF were lost. One MiG-23ML was mistakenly shot down by the Iraqi MiG-29. 7 MiG-23ML, 4 MiG-23BN and 1 MiG-23UB were sent to Iran, of which 1 MiG-23BN crashed. By the end of the war, according to Iraqi official data, Iraq had 76 MiG-23s: 17 MiG-23BN, 21 MiG-23ML, 12 MiG-23MF, 13 MiG-23MS and 13 MiG-23UB.
The Americans say that in total during the war six MiG-23s were shot down (all of them were F-15Cs). However, Iraqi fighters also struck. So, on the first day (more precisely, night) of the conflict, a MiG-23ML pair shot down an Italian Panavia Tornado fighter bomber over Baghdad. The Iraqi press also reported on the victories of the MiG-23 over the F-16.
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In 1992, Iran sent to Sudan 10 Iraqi MiG-23. In the 90s, these planes attacked militants in southern Sudan.
Iraqi MiG-23ML handed over to Serbia managed to take part in repelling the NATO attack on Yugoslavia in 1999.
The last clash of Iraqi MiG-23 with enemy aircraft occurred on September 9, 1999. On this day, over a "no-fly zone" a group of American F-14 fighters tried to intercept a single MiG-23ML. One American aircraft launched an AIM-54 missile. The Iraqi aircraft dodged the missile and then left for its airfield.
