Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Mohammed Rayyan (1955–1986) was an Iraqi

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

. He scored 5 air combat kills and was the most successful

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is a ...

pilot.''Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat'', by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper, (2004) Osprey Publishing, p.82 Rayyan, while only a Flight Lieutenant and flying a

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

MF, claimed two (later confirmed) kills against Iranian

F-5 Freedom Fighter The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models: the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants, and t ...

s in 1980. Later a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he qualified on the

P in 1981 and claimed 5 more victories (3 verified by western sources). Most of his victories were

F-4 Phantoms The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by ...

. Having flown the MiG-25 was evidence of his considerable skill, as

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

"advisers" were stationed in Iraq specifically to limit access to this advanced jet, and only the best pilots flew them.''Exhumating the Dead Iraqi Air Force: Short History of MiG-25 in service with the Iraqi Air Force, since 1980'', by Tom Cooper, Air Combat Information Group, Sept. 25, 2003
/ref>Iraqi Air-to-Air Victories since 1967
/ref> In 1986, having attained the rank of

, Rayyan was shot down and killed by Iranian Air Force (IRIAF)

Grumman F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twin-tail, all-weather-capable variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for t ...

References

1955 births 1986 deaths Iraqi Air Force officers Iraqi flying aces Iran–Iraq War flying aces Iraqi military personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Aviators killed by being shot down {{Iraq-mil-bio-stub

See also

References