Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East

Fixed-wing Combat Aircraft Deployed in the Middle East¹

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Aircraft2	Maximum range3 (km)	Warload4 (kg)	Supplier5	User6
A-10	2,000	7,260	USA	USA
A-4N	3,225	3,500	USA	Israel
Alpha Jet	1,230	2,200	France/Germany	Egypt, Qatar
AV-8B	1,110 (combat radius)	6,000	UK/USA	USA
BAC 167 Strikemaster	1,450	1,360	UK	Sudan
F/A-18A/B & C/D	900+ (combat radius)	6,230	USA	Kuwait, USA
F-117A	1,110	1,800	USA	USA
F-14A/B & C/D	2,965	6,580	USA	Iran ("A" model), USA
F-15A/B	4,500	6,800	USA	Israel
F-15C/D	5,750	8,160	USA	Israel, Saudi Arabia, USA
F-15E	5,500	10,650	USA	USA
F-15I (F-15E variant)	5,500	10,650	USA	Israel
F-15S (F-15E variant)	5,500	10,650	USA	Saudi Arabia
F-16A/B	2,640	5,440	USA	Egypt, Israel, Jordan, USA
F-16C/D	1,200 (combat radius)	6,800	USA/ Co-produced by Turkey	Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Turkey, USA, (UAE, on order)
F-4D	810 (combat range)	7,250	USA	Iran
F-4E	960 (combat range)	7,250	USA	Egypt, Iran, Israel, Turkey
F-4G	2,090	5,670	USA	USA
F-5A/B	1,770	2,720	USA	Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen
F-5E/F	2,480	3,180	USA	Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen
F-7 (MiG-21 derivative)	370 (combat radius)	1,800	China	Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Sudan
Hawk 100	640 (combat radius)	3,000	UK	Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE
Hawk 200	540 (combat radius)	3,000	UK	Oman
Kfir C7 (Mirage III derivative)	1,185 (combat radius)	5,540	Israel	Israel
L-39 Albatros	1,100	1,820	Czech Republic	Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria
L-59	1,160	1,530	Czech Republic	Egypt
MiG-21 ‘Fishbed’	1,050–1,660 (combat radius)	1,000	USSR	Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
MiG-23 ‘Flogger’	610–2,380 (combat radius)	2,000	USSR	Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Yemen
MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’	1,650–1,950	1,800	USSR	Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Syria
MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’	1,500–2,400	3,000	USSR	Iran, Iraq7, Syria, Yemen
MiG-31 ‘Foxhound’	3,020 (operational flight range)	3,000	Russia/USSR	Iran
Mirage 2000	1,800 (combat radius)	6,300	France	Egypt, Qatar, UAE
Mirage 5D/E	2,600	4,000	France	Egypt, Libya, UAE
Mirage F1	740 (combat radius)	4,800	France	Iraq7, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar
SEPECAT Jaguar	535 (combat radius)	4,760	France/UK	Oman
Su-20/22 ‘Fitter’	1,400–2,300	3,180	USSR	Algeria, Iraq7, Libya, Syria, Yemen
Su-24 ‘Fencer’	420–600	7,500	USSR	Algeria, Iran, Iraq7, Libya, Syria
Su-25 ‘Frogfoot’	495–640 (combat radius)	4,340	USSR	Iraq7, Syria
Tornado ADV (Air Defense Variant)	740 (combat radius)	8,500	Germany/Italy/UK	Saudi Arabia
Tornado IDS (Interdictor/Strike)	1,400 (combat radius)	9,000	Germany/Italy/UK	Saudi Arabia
Tu-16A ‘Badger’	3,000 (unrefueled combat radius)	9,000	USSR	Iraq
Tu-22A ‘Blinder’	3,100 (unrefueled combat radius)	5,000	USSR	Iraq8, Libya
Tu-22M ‘Backfire’	2,200 (unrefueled combat radius)	24,000	Russia/USSR	Iran

 

Notes:

 
1.  The effectiveness of fixed-wing aircraft in delivering weapons of mass destruction (WMD) depends upon a wide variety of factors. These include whether an attack has military or terror objectives, and may be influenced by an attacker's willingness to risk detection and mission failure. A determined or desperate state could order a suicidal or unmanned terror attack by a single aircraft carrying nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. For example, UNSCOM inspectors found Iraq had flight-tested a Mirage F1 aircraft with a spray tank designed to dispense biological weapons. They also found evidence that Iraq had experimented with a remotely controlled version of the MiG-21 designed to attack targets in Israel with biological weapons.
      However, a WMD attack using fixed-wing aircraft might have a greater chance of success in attacking a larger number of military targets if it were part of a large and coordinated effort involving escort fighters, electronic-warfare aircraft, refueling tankers, and some form of airborne command and control (C²). Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia possess airborne early warning (AEW) or C² aircraft, and Iran, Israel, and Turkey have aerial refueling capability. Turkey is seeking AEW aircraft, and Saudi Arabia seeks to acquire tanker aircraft.
      In addition to its design characteristics, a number of other factors affect the capability of an aircraft to deliver its ordinance successfully, including:

• availability, i.e., how often it is grounded for repairs;
• ability to acquire targets, which is determined by its radar and other sensors;
• type, effectiveness, and number of its weapons;
• ability to avoid attack through radar jammers, low radar signature, speed, etc.;
• mission flight profile, which typically involves a choice between low altitude to avoid detection, or high altitude to avoid anti-aircraft guns and short-range surface-to-air missiles;
• weather conditions;
• capacity of the aircraft to survive battle damage; and
• skill level of the pilot and flight crew.

 
2.  Aircraft: This chart includes only "modern" fixed-wing fighter, ground-attack, and multi-role combat aircraft, i.e., those incorporating 1960s or later technology (with the exception of the Tupolev bombers). This chart does not include such older types as the MiG-17 or MiG-19, which are still in service in some Middle East air forces and whose use may be prolonged through upgrades and life-extension programs.
 
3.  Maximum range: This is expressed as the maximum range of an unladen aircraft flying with external fuel tanks (if available for the type) instead of weapons, which is sometimes referred to as the ferry range. Where possible, the more useful term combat radius/range is used. The range is in some cases noted as two numbers, when the source(s) lists more than one mission profile. In these cases, the shorter range is flown with a heavier warload at lower altitude, and the longer range is with a lighter load at higher altitudes where jet engines are more fuel-efficient. Ferry range can be up to 10 times the combat range, and maximum payload can be up to four times greater than normal combat payload.
 
4.  Warload: This is the maximum weight of all bombs, missiles, rockets, guns, and ammunition carried by the aircraft. This is sometimes confused with payload, which is the warload plus the weight of the fuel, crew, and any other additional items, such as electronic jamming pods.
      It should be noted that comparing the warload and range capabilities of different models of military aircraft is difficult, because there is no standard set of criteria to guide comparisons. Thus manufacturers, air forces, and defense analysts present different statistics for the same model of aircraft. For example, maximum range can be calculated for an aircraft flying one-way at the most fuel-efficient altitude in a straight and level flight, while carrying no munitions. However, it can be alternatively calculated for an evasive two-way flight profile with maximum payload under combat conditions. Based on these different mission profiles, estimates of maximum range may vary more than 50% for the same aircraft. Because the statistics presented here are drawn from multiple sources that use different criteria in calculating range and warload, these data should be seen as illustrative rather than definitive.
 
5.  Supplier: Country that supplied the aircraft type. Of the 4,000 aircraft deployed in the Middle East, less than 300 – a mere 8% – were manufactured in the region.
 
6.  User: Country where the aircraft is in service. The United States deploys aircraft in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and with the US Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf.
 
7.  During the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, an estimated 115 Iraqi aircraft were flown to Iran. Their current status is not known. These aircraft include: 24 Mirage F1, 24 Su-24, 40 Su-22, four Su-20, seven Su-25, four MiG-29, seven MiG-23ML, four MiG-23BN, and one MiG-23UB.
 
8.  Probably unserviceable or were destroyed during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War.

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