On 27th July, a MiG-23 operating from Seen AB and piloted by Lt. Colonel Nader Ramadan "المقدم نادر رمضان" is reported crashed in Qalamoun mounts area resulting in the death of the pilot.
It's good to mention that Seen AB and in addition to the MiG-29 and Su-24M2, it houses a squadron of MiG-23BN which made me conclude the crashed MiG is a BN bomber/attack variant.
So if there is a squadron of Mig-23BNs at both Dmeyr and Seen, and there are only 8 or so airframes left, would that mean there are only 3 or 4 stationed at each airbase?
ReplyDeleteTrue, there are not much BNs left fully operational, we cannot nowadays say that there is a squadron of a type in an airbase (I'm talking about aged aircraft like MiG-21/23)
ReplyDeleteHowever, assuming the SyAAF was a normal air force, (meaning an air force that wasn't badly managed and largely corrupt) the war has given it a chance to clear out its old inventory, that would otherwise have been scrapped. Mi-21bis/MF, Mig-23 etc, have taken the brunt of the losses, particularly the Mig-21. The war has not drastically reduced the amount of more capable SyAAF assets. The Mig-29 fleet is still largely intact, the more modern Mig-23MLD interceptor fleet is in decent condition, the important Su-24 fleet may have been cut in half but the important thing is that the less modern types have taken most of the losses for the more important fleets.
ReplyDeleteMost of the stuff the SyAAF has lost will not affect its ability to at least challenge other air forces in combat, if only for a short while.
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