An Iranian Phantom performs what loosely reminds a Top Gun stunt while “intercepting” an American Super Hornet.
We don’t know when nor where this was filmed, still the footage, reportedly shot from an Iranian Phantom’s WSO (Weapons Systems Officer) seems genuine. It allegedly shows a U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet shadowed by an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4E Phantom during a close encounter occurred somewhere over the Middle East.
The clip shows the American multirole aircraft starting a left turn and the Iranian F-4 performing a displacement roll most probably to keep the Super Hornet in sight: a maneuver that vaguely reminds the one performed in a famous scene of Top Gun.
According to some sources, the rear cockpit of the aircraft filming the “Rhino” (as the Super Hornet is dubbed in the U.S. Navy – yes, the F-4 was nicknamed Rhino because of its aggressive look but the Super Bug community “stole” it) appears to be too large for a Phantom suggesting it might be an F-14 Tomcat…
Close encounters in international airspace off Iran as well as over Iraq and Syria (where the Iranian F-4s have operated) occur quite frequently. Some funny anecdotes have emerged following these intercepts.
In 2012, two Sukhoi Su-25 jets of the IRGC (the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American MQ-1 flying a routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16 miles off Iran. Although the interception of the unmanned aircraft failed, the Pentagon decided to escort the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance) missions with fighter jets (F-18 Hornets from aircraft carriers operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors deployed to Al Dhafra in the UAE). Few months later, in March 2013, a flight of two IRIAF F-4s attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace off Iran: one of the two Phantom jets came within about 16 miles from the UAV but broke off pursuit after an F-22 Raptor providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) flew under their the F-4 “to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said “you really ought to go home.”
Most of times, such close encounters are uneventful; however, earlier this year, a Syrian Su-22 Fitter was shot down by a U.S. Navy F/A-18E belonging to the VFA-87 “Golden Warriors” and piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mob” Tremel,” 40 km to the southwest of Raqqa, Syria. The Syrian jet had just conducted an air strike on the anti-regime Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) aligned with the U.S. led Coalition.
Anyway, take a look at the clip. Provided the video is not doctored, where did this close encounter took place?
Let us know.
H/T our friend @winstoncdn for the heads-up
The F 18 appears to have quite a few external stores. I doubt he was worried about that brick with two J 79s or would have dropped his stores.
what they were doing so close to each other?
I didn’t say that the Iranians don’t have any technical ability, they do. They’re certainly far more advanced than neighboring countries like Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc. But building your own advanced combat aircraft is a relatively rare capability. Even the US has brought in partners on projects like the F-35.
The Chinese got access to Soviet aircraft designs back in the 1950s and 1960s. They co-produced them first before building their own variants over decades. They essentially did the same thing with the Su-27. In fact it lead to a breakdown in Russian assistance due to the blatant ripoff of that design. So it took many decades of actually manufacturing aircraft before the J-20 came to fruition. It should also be mentioned that Chinese espionage is largely responsible for the many advances shown with the J-20.