On June 5, 1984, an air battle took place near Arabi Island in the Persian Gulf. Two Iranian Air Force

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowers ...

s from Bushehr Air Base, had intruded into Saudi airspace, setting up for an attack on oil tankers. The planes were tracked by a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weath ...

AEW&C aircraft, which directed two patrolling Saudi

F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...

s armed with

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

missiles to intercept the Iranians. The Saudis shot down one Iranian Phantom, killing 1st Lts Homayoun Hekmati &

weapon systems officer A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...

Seyed Sirous Karimi. The second Iranian F-4 was damaged, and made an emergency landing at

Kish Airport Kish International Airport (, ''Foroudgâh-e Beyn Almelali-ye Kish'') is an international airport on Kish Island, Iran. Description The Kish International Airport serves as the entry point for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who come t ...

. The aircraft could not be repaired and was written off. This caused the Iranians to scramble 11 additional F-4s from

Bushehr Bushehr (; ) is a port city in the Central District (Bushehr County), Central District of Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Bushehr province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Etymology The roots of the n ...

. In response, the

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

scrambled 11 additional F-15s. Seeing this, the Iranians backed down, and the Saudis returned to base.Halloran, Richard
"2 Iranian fighters reported downed by Saudi Air Force"
''The New York Times'', 6 June 1984, p. 1. Retrieved: 26 January 2008.

References

{{Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict Aerial operations and battles of the Iran–Iraq War Aerial operations and battles involving Saudi Arabia Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War in 1984 1984 in Saudi Arabia Iran–Saudi Arabia military relations Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict Air-to-air combat operations and battles 1984 in aviation June 1984 in Asia Foreign relations during the Iran–Iraq War

See also

References