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Iranian
offensive against the peninsula and the city of Al-Faw started
at 01:00 hour on the 9th February 1986. The attackers targets
were in and around the Peninsula. Under cover of bad weather,
Iranian commandos managed to destroy two Iraqi early warning
radar sites, placed on oil rigs in the front of the port.
The demise of those radar stations caused grievous problems
for the Iraqi Air Force and one further loss.
The problem was that Saddam Hossein ordered an attack on the
shipping around the Khark Island as soon as weather should
clear. During the next few days, however, the Iraqi Air Force
was at the verge of collapsing under the Iranian attack and
the bad weather. Iranians prevented any further operations
of Iraqi aircraft and helicopters over the Northern Persian
Gulf. However, the order for attack on tankers around Khark
was not recalled and also nobody in the Iraqi Air Force cared
to warn the crews of the Super Frelon squadron, whose helicopters
were also armed with French built AM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles,
of the danger from newly active Iranian interceptors, which
now could not be detected as early as before. Thus, at around
11:00 hour of the 14 February 1986, one Super Frelon helicopter
took off from its base in Shaibah, with its five days old
order to attack tankers at Khark island. The helicopter flew
in not very low level through the mist and closed to its target.
The crew wasn't concerned however: they thought that Iraqi
interceptors were close by and early warning radar stations
would warn them of any Iranian aircraft close by in the area.
The defense of the Khark island detected the Super Frelon
and sent in two F-4s to intercept. Crews of both Phantoms
left their radars "off" in order not to reveal their
positions and get close undetected. In the last minute, just
as radar of the Iraqi Super Frelon finally found something,
its crew thought that it was a tanker and one AM.39 was fired.
Iranian Phantoms switched their radars "on", now
Iraqi crew was perplexed, but they couldn't run or hide. One
of the phantoms fired an air-to-air missile which was enough
in order to destroy the rotor and threw the Super Frelon against
the ocean surface. There were no survivors. Later Saddam Hossein
accused the commanding officer of the Super Frelon squadron
for this loss (even thought he forgot to recall his own 5
days old order) and sent him to prison. Also were punished
couple of high ranking officers of the Iraqi Air Force Support
Command.
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