Chapter 366 Expatriates

"The feeling of flying is so wonderful. If I were not so old, I would really like to learn how to fly a plane." After finishing his inspection at the Air Defense Force Base and returning to Moscow, Saddam was still full of praise.

"Marshal Ustinov, General Andrei, we in Iraq need this advanced fighter jet. Only it can defend our motherland!" Saddam said solemnly.

If it was just a casual remark during the military parade, with the end of this experience flight, Iraq's actual decision-maker, who is about to step onto the stage of Iraqi history, the Iraqi Vice President, who was later known as Shadamu, has put forward his own application. Iraq wants to be equipped with this fighter!

At this time, the highest-ranking person in the conference room was Soviet Defense Minister Ustinov. Faced with Iraq's application, Ustinov was embarrassed: "Mr. President, our MiG-25 is the most advanced fighter. We are currently only equipped with the National Air Defense Force. There is no precedent for exporting it. It is not because our relationship with you is not good enough, but because we are worried that once this fighter is exported, the secret of our most powerful fighter will be leaked to the West."

"I guarantee with my character that we will protect the MiG-25 and will not let Western agents get any data about the aircraft," President Saddam said. "We will keep these MiG-25s under strict supervision."

Ustinov shook his head: "No, Western agents are omnipresent. Even within the Soviet Union, we can find Western agents infiltrating, not to mention your country."

Want it? I can give it to you, but I'm worried that you might leak the secret! Ustinov's opinion was clear. Saddam thought quickly in his mind, how can he convince the other party?

"Comrade Marshal, I have a plan, but I don't know if it will work." Andre suddenly spoke at this time.

"What's the plan? Tell me about it," said Ustinov.

"We are now worried about the leakage of the MiG-25 once it is exported. So, we can simply send some personnel to protect the MiG-25 fighters we export to Iraq." Andre said, "Anyway, the maintenance, upkeep and flight of the MiG-25 are quite complicated. Our personnel can help the Iraqi Air Force get familiar with this fighter, train their pilots and ground crew, and at the same time, ensure that the secrets of the MiG-25 are not leaked. After five or ten years, the Iraqi Air Force will be fully familiar with this fighter, and we can also verify that these operators will not leak secrets. Then, we can withdraw them. Isn't that enough?"

This plan? Wouldn't that be equivalent to the Soviet Union stationing troops in Iraq? After hearing Andre's words, Saddam's mind was thinking rapidly for a while, would this be good for Iraq?

Just as he was thinking, Andre said again: "Our people are only helping Iraq get familiar with the operation of MiG-25 and training their pilots and ground crew. We will not participate in the war between Iraq and other countries. We are not mercenaries."

"This doesn't seem to be a good idea. We have to report it to the general secretary to see if he agrees. Also, will the Iraqi side agree?" Ustinov asked.

Saddam was relieved to hear that they were only training pilots and ground crews and would not participate in any combat. Now, hearing Ustinov's question, Saddam nodded repeatedly: "Yes, of course we agree. With your help, we will definitely be able to quickly master the operation of this fighter, and it will also help keep it confidential."

"Okay, then I'll report to the General Secretary." Ustinov stood up and was about to leave when he turned to Saddam and said, "We Soviets have always been generous to our class brothers. If the General Secretary agrees, we will send an air defense force of 20,000 people to help you quickly master the operation of this fighter jet. At the same time, we can also help your country improve the operation of its air force."

Twenty thousand people! Saddam's smile suddenly became ugly. This number seems a bit too much, right? The total number of our air force is only twenty-five thousand!

Seeing Ustinov go out, Andrei couldn't help laughing in his heart. The two of them sang the same tune and had already discussed it. Now, Ustinov would go out to the toilet, then stay in the next room for a while, smoke a cigarette, and then come back to tell Saddam that General Secretary Andropov was finally convinced by him and agreed to sell this fighter, but it must be strictly controlled and no Westerners should be allowed to get close to it!

Now, watching Saddam waiting anxiously, Andre continued, "President Saddam, if the MiG-25 deal can go ahead and your confidentiality measures are in place, I have a new suggestion. We can give your MiG-23 fighters a large-scale mid-term improvement and life extension in accordance with the standards of our Soviet fighters. After the improvement, the combat effectiveness of the MiG-23 will be the same as the one we used over Hokkaido, and it can be used as your main air superiority fighter."

MiG-23!

In fact, countries like Iraq and Syria can be regarded as staunch allies of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union’s advanced equipment was also exported to them first.

After the Syrians received the first batch of MiG-23 fighters in the early 1970s, they attracted the attention of Iraqi pilots. The Iraqi Air Force then asked the Soviet Union to buy 48 MiG-23 fighters/attack aircraft. So, in early 1974, the Iraqis received a large number of MiG-23 fighters: 18 MS models, 18 BN models, and 4 UB models. These aircraft quickly formed three combat squadrons: the 23rd/26th squadrons were equipped with fighters, and the 77th squadron was equipped with MiG-23BN attack aircraft.

However, after receiving the aircraft, Iraq was greatly disappointed with the weapons they received: they had originally planned to use their own MiG-23 fighters to counter the American F-14A Tomcat fighters purchased by Iran. However, it turned out that the Flogger was far behind the Tomcat in all indicators, from onboard avionics to weapon systems; from range to payload to operability. The only thing that could be compared was the maintenance complexity and difficulty of the Flogger!

In addition to these, another problem is that the Soviet Union has always followed the principle that all exported products are castrated to prevent technology leaks. At the same time, the weapons exported by the United States to its allies are not castrated at all. For example, the weapons exported to Iran are just different in the IFF system. In comparison, Soviet weapons are of course more crudely made.