Jordan’s Air Force Absorbed by Iraq, Israeli General Charges

The Jordanian air force has been absorbed into the Iraqi air force, an Israeli air force general charged Monday.

This, the general suggested, could be damaging to American pilots in the event of war because Jordan is providing Iraq with valuable air intelligence acquired from its relationship with the United States.

The general, who asked not to be identified by name, said Jordan has taken part in joint exercises with the United States, has sent its pilots to the United States for training and has acquired American military equipment.

Consequently, Jordanian specialists have information on the U.S. F-15 and F-16 jets, on the Hawk anti-aircraft missile, on U.S. and British-made radar and on American air-combat tactics.

“There is no reason to believe that this information is not being transferred to Iraq,” the general said in a briefing for American reporters.

He said Jordan appears to be strengthening its anti-aircraft defenses, which could serve as an early warning system for Iraq.

He suggested that Iraqi pilots would be no match for American pilots and added that he thinks Iraqi surface-to-air missiles would be more dangerous to American aircraft than Iraqi jet fighters.

Complete surprise of the sort that Israel achieved in the 1967 war and in Israel’s 1981 raid on a Baghdad nuclear reactor probably could not be achieved again, he said.

He also said U.S. air tactics would be dictated largely by U.S. goals: whether to attack strategic installations--power stations, chemical plants and the like--or to support ground attacks.

“It depends on whether you decide on limited or total war,” he said. “But we don’t have to give advice. The American pilots are professional. They will know exactly what they are going to do.”

The Israeli air force has wide experience in action against the Soviet-made aircraft and missiles used by the Arab countries. In 1967, the Israelis struck the Egyptian air force at its bases and decided the outcome of the war. But in 1973, the Israelis misjudged the effectiveness of surface-to-air missiles and lost 25% of their air force in the early days of the war.

The Israelis then developed missile countermeasures and in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon shot down 25% of Syria’s first-line fighters with minimal Israeli losses.