F-15s Catch Up, Turn Fleeing Jets Into ‘Fireballs’ : Ambush: ‘We did what we were trained to do,’ U.S. pilots say after pouncing on Iraqi warplanes trying to reach Iran.

He identified himself only by his nickname, Gigs, but he was one proud pilot.

“Our mission is to prevent these jets from leaving the Iraqi theater,” he told a reporter, “and that’s what we did.”

Gigs and another American pilot ambushed four Iraqi jets Wednesday streaking low and fast across the Iraqi desert--before they could reach refuge in Iran. The two U.S. pilots shot down two SU-25 attack planes and perhaps two MIG-21 fighters, as well.

They detected the enemy aircraft during routine combat air patrols and rushed to intercept them before they could find safety outside their country. “They were eastbound, obviously heading toward Iran,” Gigs said, “and we were able to push it up enough to go ahead and cut them off before they were able to make it.”

U.S. officials say a total of 120 Iraqi planes have reached safety on Iranian airfields since the beginning of the Gulf conflict. Tehran, which says that only 17 Iraqi planes are in Iran, has said the aircraft will not be permitted to take off until the conclusion of the war. But some U.S. military officials have expressed fears that Iraq could spring the protected planes into sudden operation for an offensive against allied forces in the Gulf.

Until Wednesday, none of the planes had been intercepted in their flight from Iraq into Iran, in part because U.S. officials say they cannot always pursue short, low-level, cross-border hops that pose no immediate offensive threat. Marine Brig. Gen. Richard I. Neal, briefing reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, confirmed the downing of the attack planes and said the MIGs were “probable kills.”

In Wednesday’s ambush, the two U.S. F-15 pilots said in interviews with combat pool reporters that they were flying a routine patrol east of Baghdad and were about 60 miles from the Iraqi warplanes when they spotted them on radar.

Within minutes, they closed within seven miles of the aircraft and tucked in behind them, destroying them with missiles.

“It was just the most spectacular thing I have ever seen,” Gigs said.

The other pilot, identified only as “Vegas,” said he was worried at first about the prospect of return fire from the Iraqi aircraft.

“I felt kind of cautious for starters,” he said. “We had to make sure there were no others around that we didn’t see. I just ran on down there wondering whether we were going to get shot back at or anything like that. It was kind of nice when they didn’t.”

The pursuit began about 8:45 a.m., after the two had been on patrol for several hours.

“We saw them coming up on radar, and the big thing we tried to do was identify them, make sure they are not friendlies,” Vegas said. “From there, we were looking to get in there and get to them before they got us.”

Once they closed on the Iraqi planes, it became clear that the Iraqis knew they were being pursued, the pilots said. The aircraft, flying barely 100 feet above the ground to avoid radar detection, accelerated and tried to outrun the Americans, “as if they were trying to beat us to the border,” said Gigs.

Vegas said he first shot the two MIG-21 fighters, then Gigs moved in to take out the SU-25 close air support aircraft. All four went down in “four fireballs,” Gigs said. There were no parachutes to indicate that the Iraqi pilots were able to eject, he said.

“They started catching fire, and we got the hell out of there as fast as we could after we shot them,” Vegas said.

Returning jubilantly to their air base in central Saudi Arabia, the two pilots exchanged high-five signs as they climbed out of their cockpits, the creases of their oxygen masks still etched in their faces.

“We did what we were trained to do,” Gigs said. “It was pretty much like clockwork.”

“I feel great,” Vegas added. “It worked the way it was supposed to. Jet worked great. Missiles worked great. Got in and out of there--no problem.”

This article was compiled from combat pool reports reviewed by military censors.