Iraq has Soviet bombers capable of delivering chemical and conventional weapons with pinpoint precision anywhere in the Persian Gulf and eastern Mediterranean, Jane's Defense Weekly reported Saturday.
The Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer low-level strike bombers present the U.S.-led multinational force in the Persian Gulf "with its gravest military threat," Jane's said in its Aug. 18 issue.U.S. military intelligence sources estimate that the Iraqi air force has about 10 of the aircraft, the magazine said.
It said the Su-24 Fencer is similar to the US F-111 and has a combat range of about 650 miles, without the need to refuel.
"With a midair refueling capability, almost certainly possessed by the Iraqis, range would be limited only by the endurance of its two-man crew," said the magazine.
Although primarily designed to attack land targets, Jane's said the aircraft could also be used against ships. It can carry the full range of Soviet tactical weapons, many of which are in Iraqi hands, it said.
"In capable hands it is a formidable weapon, although the Iraqi air force's ability to master its operation is under some doubt," the Jane's article said.
U.S. intelligence sources believe Iraq has had Fencers since the beginning of the year but it is not known whether they are owned by Iraq or on loan from the Soviet Union, the magazine said.
Iraq, which signed a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in 1972, has long wanted the Su-24 but experts believe Moscow refused to supply them out of fears of destabilizing the Middle East, Jane's said.
The magazine said it is likely that Moscow, under pressure from Iraq to supply intermediate-range missiles, instead agreed to supply the Fencers.