It was 18 June, 2017. An US Navy F/A 18E "Super Hornet" with callsign "Freedom 33" from VFA-87 “Golden Warriors” piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Michael "Mob" Tremel, along with his wingman "Freedom 34", launched from USS George H.W. Bush for a Close Air Support mission over Syria. While proceeding to the destination, an unknown aircraft appeared on radar of Freedom 33. Very soon, it was identified as a Syrian Su-22.
The bandit was piloted by Captain Ali Fahd. It was very fast and intentionally approaching to bomb the US backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighting on the ground. Freedom 33 followed the procedures of Rules of Engagement by sending warning through communication. When failed, the F/A-18 pilot performed some dangerous manuevers at very close range and dispemsed few flares. The Su-22 ignored all the warning and suddenly dived and dropped ordanance over SDF, causing injuries.
Then Freedom 33 turned aggressive, switched to his short range AIM-9X IIR missile, locked onto the Su-22 at a range of 1.5 miles and fired. Suprisingly, the Syrian pilot dispensed flares to fool the missile and the trick worked, The AIM-9X missed! Fortunately, Freedom 33 quickly switched to radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAM and fired. This time the Fitter went down and Hornet scored the kill, Finally... the Syrian pilot ejected succesfully and landed unharmed.
Then Freedom 33 turned aggressive, switched to his short range AIM-9X IIR missile, locked onto the Su-22 at a range of 1.5 miles and fired. Suprisingly, the Syrian pilot dispensed flares to fool the missile and the trick worked, The AIM-9X missed! Fortunately, Freedom 33 quickly switched to radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAM and fired. This time the Fitter went down and Hornet scored the kill, Finally... the Syrian pilot ejected succesfully and landed unharmed.
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Above is the footage recorded by the AN/ASQ-228 AT-FLIR (Advanced Targetting Foward Looking Infra-Red) pod armed on another F/A-18 from VFA-31 "Tomcatters" that was monitoring the situation.
You may call me a retard because I am making a simple incident into a big issue. Actually, it is not like that. AIM-9X is the latest variant of Sidewinder. US Navy paid $603,817 for a AIM-9X and in combat, the missile failed to hit the target. This is the issue. USA may be a Superpower but such amount of money is expensive. You cannot afford a loss even after spending tons of dollars. Let me give some information on AIM-9X (according to the information released for public):
The AIM-9X missile is the next generation Sidewinder, with Block II as the most advanced variant and Block III in development phase. It is the primary WVR missile operated by US and allied nations. It has full day/night employment, resistance to countermeasures, extremely high off-boresight acquisition and launch envelopes, enhanced maneuverability and improved target acquisition ranges along with Lock On-After-Launch (LOAL) mode. It also features Thrust Vector Controlled (TVC) airframe. It carries a contact fuze device and a new IR seeker that will enable, through Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), high off-boresight engagements.
So, you noticed the words above in Bold letters? So it is claimed that AIM-9X is highly effective against countermeasures but in reality, failed to target a 3rd generation aircraft. Ineffective? People say the actual capability of the weapon is tested in real battlefield and here, we observed how AIM-9X performed in actual battlefield. But I agree on the point that real situation is affected by various factors. The seeker may failed to lock on the target, or something else like that. There is a long way to go and we may see good air-to-air kills with good weapons.
A suprising fact is that Tremel first tracked a Russian Su-27 in his radar that was flying overhead at high altitude. Luckily, there was no engagement with the Russian and both parties maintained peace. But very soon, when Tremel started tracking a fast Su-22, he quickly responded in order to intercept the bandit. After the shootdown, Tremel and his wingman were ordered to return back to the carrier. They jettisoned their air-to-ground ordanance to proceed in good cruising speed. In the returning course, they recieved fuel in mid-air from KC-135.
After all this incident, a statement released by the US-led Coalition stated that "The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat. The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated."
Lt. Cmdr. Michael "Mob" Tremel with his SuperHornet. Notice the Su-22 kill mark on top right, below the Syrian flag.
Thanks for reading!
You may call me a retard because I am making a simple incident into a big issue. Actually, it is not like that. AIM-9X is the latest variant of Sidewinder. US Navy paid $603,817 for a AIM-9X and in combat, the missile failed to hit the target. This is the issue. USA may be a Superpower but such amount of money is expensive. You cannot afford a loss even after spending tons of dollars. Let me give some information on AIM-9X (according to the information released for public):
The AIM-9X missile is the next generation Sidewinder, with Block II as the most advanced variant and Block III in development phase. It is the primary WVR missile operated by US and allied nations. It has full day/night employment, resistance to countermeasures, extremely high off-boresight acquisition and launch envelopes, enhanced maneuverability and improved target acquisition ranges along with Lock On-After-Launch (LOAL) mode. It also features Thrust Vector Controlled (TVC) airframe. It carries a contact fuze device and a new IR seeker that will enable, through Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), high off-boresight engagements.
So, you noticed the words above in Bold letters? So it is claimed that AIM-9X is highly effective against countermeasures but in reality, failed to target a 3rd generation aircraft. Ineffective? People say the actual capability of the weapon is tested in real battlefield and here, we observed how AIM-9X performed in actual battlefield. But I agree on the point that real situation is affected by various factors. The seeker may failed to lock on the target, or something else like that. There is a long way to go and we may see good air-to-air kills with good weapons.
A suprising fact is that Tremel first tracked a Russian Su-27 in his radar that was flying overhead at high altitude. Luckily, there was no engagement with the Russian and both parties maintained peace. But very soon, when Tremel started tracking a fast Su-22, he quickly responded in order to intercept the bandit. After the shootdown, Tremel and his wingman were ordered to return back to the carrier. They jettisoned their air-to-ground ordanance to proceed in good cruising speed. In the returning course, they recieved fuel in mid-air from KC-135.
After all this incident, a statement released by the US-led Coalition stated that "The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat. The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated."
Thanks for reading!
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