Chapter 1143 War of Attrition

At present, the progress of the Iraq War has become a war of attrition between the United States and the Arab world.

The current consumption of both sides is mainly in the air force, missiles and bombs. The United States mainly loses fighters, pilots, bombs and missiles, while Iraq loses fighters, pilots, missiles and losses after bombing.

At present, the price of the latest F-16 fighter purchased by the United States is 30 million US dollars, the price of the latest F-15 fighter purchased is 65 million US dollars, and the price of purchasing an F/A-18 fighter is 41 million US dollars.

As for the A-6, A-7, A-10, F-14 fighter, F-117 fighter, F5 fighter, F-111 fighter, and F-117 fighter, they are all in stock. The United States no longer produces them, or the production lines have been dismantled, or the production lines have been sealed.

Even when the United States launched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it did not purchase these fighters, but purchased more F-15 fighters, F-16 fighters, F/A fighters and F-22 fighters.

Although the F-22 fighter has been successfully developed, the United States also made up its mind to invest heavily in mass production of the F-22 fighter in 2001. Lockheed Martin has received an order to produce 295 F-22s, but the F-22 fighter has not yet been delivered to service, let alone formed into a fighter.

Therefore, since its birth, the F-22 fighter has been hailed as the world's most powerful fighter and the world's first fourth-generation fighter. However, so far, the F-22 fighter has not appeared in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The price of American fighters is often more expensive, but now, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also raised the price of the international arms market.

Due to their outstanding performance, the prices of Soviet-made fighters and air defense missiles have risen sharply. A MiG-29 fighter costs 20 million US dollars, a Su-27 fighter costs 50 million US dollars, and other aircraft are not cheap either.

In terms of price increases, Russia is definitely a master.

As for air defense missiles, the Aegis air defense missile is not cheap!

There is also the "Vanguard" portable air defense missile, which costs 80,000 US dollars per shot.

Anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns are not expensive for a single shot, but they can easily cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of rounds if they are in large quantities.

The two sides are competing for financial resources!

"Boom~~"

A Tomahawk cruise missile was intercepted and exploded in the air.

The price of a Tomahawk cruise missile is 1.2 million to 2 million US dollars!

Every time the joint forces launch a Tomahawk cruise missile, not every Tomahawk cruise missile can attack the target, but a large part of it will be intercepted.

Facing Iraq's powerful air defense firepower, the Tomahawk cruise missile has only a 5~15% chance of hitting the target, of which 60~70% are intercepted, and the rest are within the error range.

"Boom~~"

An F-16 fighter jet could not avoid it and was hit by a medium-range air defense missile and exploded directly in the air.

Some fighter jets were hit and exploded directly in the air, and the pilots did not even have the opportunity to parachute; some fighter jets were hit on the wing or tail, and the pilots could choose to parachute to escape.

Then the two sides broke out in an air battle.

Long before, the joint forces had a consensus that they had to first destroy Iraq's air force and air defense firepower to gain air superiority.

Only by gaining air superiority can the joint forces air force launch a massive bombing of Iraq, thereby winning the Iraq War and then occupying the entire Iraq.

Now the United States has invested a huge amount of money in this war. Only by winning the war can it make up for the losses of the United States and make a lot of money.

This is already a consensus within the United States.

It is also the consensus of other allies, because the casualties are not small, especially the loss of aircraft and missiles.

If Iraq is occupied, they will follow the US garrison in Iraq and get a share of the pie, which is enough to make up for the losses.

If the Iraq War fails, then they will get nothing, and the Americans will never pay for their losses.

And Iraq can't afford to fail either. Once it fails, Iraq will perish, and its fate will no longer be in the hands of the Iraqi people.

This is especially true for Saddam and others. The Americans clearly came to destroy Iraq. Even if they occupied Iraq and supported a puppet government, they would first destroy them completely.

For the Iraqi people, who suffered from the Gulf War, they only hate Europe and the United States. Once this war fails, they will become slaves of a conquered country.

For the Arab countries, if the Iraq War ends in Iraq's defeat and Iraq is occupied by the Americans, it will be a major blow to the Arab League and the Arab Coalition, and also a heavy blow to the integration of the Arab world.

In the past ten years, with the efforts of the elites of the Arab countries, the Arab world has initially achieved integration, and the Middle East has achieved more than ten years of overall peace.

This is also an important reason why the United States bypassed the United Nations to launch the Iraq War, which made the Arab world so angry.

The Afghan War has made the Islamic world very dissatisfied, so much so that many people in the Islamic world have taken guns to Afghanistan to join the guerrillas and fight against the coalition forces.

The United States launched the Iraq War again, which made the Islamic world extremely angry.

On the Internet in the Islamic world, the most common news is how many missiles Iraq intercepted and how many planes it shot down. Another thing is that the missiles and bombs of the coalition forces destroyed a school, a hospital or a nursing home, which is a complaint against the Americans by children, students and the elderly.

In the Afghan battlefield, the most common news in the Islamic world, in addition to the guerrillas ambushing the coalition forces, destroying how many coalition forces and annihilating how many puppet troops, is that the coalition forces blew up a certain mosque, and the coalition soldiers entered the village to rob, burn, kill and plunder, and harm Afghan women and shoot and kill babies.

On the first day of the resumption of the war, the intensity of the war was very fierce.

Whether it is the number of cruise missiles launched, the number of precision-guided missiles and precision-guided bombs launched, or the number of fighters dispatched by both sides, the world focuses on the Iraqi battlefield.

Military commentators from various countries have become extremely busy, whether writing articles or participating in TV programs, much busier than usual.

The strength comparison between the two sides, the types of weapons and equipment, which missiles and aircraft were shot down, the international oil and energy prices of the day, the latest statements of the two sides, the changes in the deployment of the two sides, etc., these are all hot news.

There are also military commanders from various countries who are also focused on the Iraqi battlefield, analyzing the changes in modern warfare through the Iraq War, which are the highlights that can be learned, and what are the shortcomings of their own side.

If it were their side, how would they launch an attack or how would they defend.

Every war always attracts the analysis and learning of military commanders from various countries, so as to improve their own level and fill in the gaps on their side. (End of this chapter)