Colonel Mohammed Rayyan (died 1986), nicknamed "Sky Falcon," was a fighter pilot with the

Iraqi Air Force The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...

during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

. He scored 5 air combat kills.''Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat'', by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper, (2004) Osprey Publishing, p.82 He was the most successful

MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by th ...

pilot. Rayyan, while only a Flight Lieutenant and flying a

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

MF, claimed two (later confirmed) kills against Iranian F-5 Freedom Fighters in 1980. Later a Captain, 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 two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...

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

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

"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

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge o ...

, Rayyan was shot down and killed by IRIAF

Grumman F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...

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