Warrior Maven Video Above: How the Air Force is Adjusting Strategy to Get Ready for Fighter Jet-Fired Laser Weapons
By Tom Cooper,War Is Boring
In mid-December 1990, an Iraqi Airways Boeing 747 took off for a flight from Kuwait International — then occupied by Iraqi troops — to Baghdad.
The aircraft was piloted by Captain Remzi, former fighter pilot with a long career flying Sukhoi Su-7BMKs and Su-20s during the war with Iran.
His mastery of English and his keen love for flying made Remzi a passionate reader of aviation magazines. As a subscriber to multiple publications around the world, he was well informed about latest developments, and thus about the U.S. Air Force’s F-117 stealth fighter, which the flying branch had revealed to the public in 1988.
Remzi was about to be the first “enemy” civilian to knowingly face the F-117 in a conflict zone. The first military encounter occurred shortly thereafter.
It was around 9:00 at night, local time, as Remzi slowly climbed his 747 into the evening skies over southern Iraq. The view from the cockpit was excellent. The pilot and co-pilot enjoyed their short trip through the starry night.
