Originally posted by: Don_Vito
I believe an Iraqi jet pilot would be just as, if not just the same level of ability as a USAF, or an RAF, or an RAAF fighter pilot. Sure they dont have as many planes, but there not gonna just send some idiot with a turban into the skys now, are they?
Not even close. Their training, and resulting skill level, is a joke compared to the USAF or RAF. Look at the kill ratios during the Gulf War to get a taste for that, and keep in mind that they were flying over familiar terrain, whereas the Americans were not.
I am positive that Iraqi pilots have neither the initial training or continual flight hours, refresher training, air to air, air to ground, and other training that US pilots have. No matter how modern or well equipped an Air Force is, and Iraqs during the Gulf War was relatively well equipped, if your pilots are basically training to only take of, fly in straight lines and then land all in good weather...well you can see the problem. The training of our armed forces combined with our superior command and control systems is the primary advantage of the US. No one else even comes close. Anyone who has been in the armed forces knows that what you do is train, train, train some more, and then do maintenance, then you train some more. BTW: in this instance, a high speed Jet Aircraft may indeed have a difficult time engaging something as small and slow as a Predator with cannons especially if the interceptors did not want to stick around and make multiple passes. Predators are relatively vulnerable to ground AAA and missiles though, many have been shot down over the years.
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