On the ninth day of the Battle of Samawa, and the eighth day of Saudi entry, the Royal Saudi Air Force suffered its first losses.

An F-15S was shot down by the rebels while bombarding an artillery position north of Semavo, and the pilot was wounded and parachuted, but was later captured by the rebels.

The rebels then announced that they had shot down the F-15S with anti-aircraft guns.

In addition, the authorities in Baghdad released a video of the capture of the Saudi pilot, claiming that they would hit all invading enemies as if they were shooting down the F-15s.

It's just that it was not an anti-aircraft gun that shot down this F-15S, but an anti-aircraft missile.

Before being shot down, the pilot reported being locked onto a missile, saw the pursuing missile, and released jamming bombs in an attempt to get rid of the missile.

In addition, the F-15S flew more than ten kilometers after being hit by a missile before crashing.

Combining these factors, it can be roughly concluded that it was a portable anti-aircraft missile or a short-range anti-aircraft missile that shot down this F-15S.

Because before the attack, the radar warning aircraft of the F-15S did not work, and there were no rebel air defense radars nearby, and the missile warning aircraft did not sound the alarm until after the missile approached, so it is extremely likely that it is a portable anti-aircraft missile, and it is the "needle" of the NATO code name SA-24.

Quite simply, in Yemen, the Royal Saudi Air Force's F-15S have been attacked by a variety of MANPADS such as the SA-7, SA-14, SA-16 and SA-18, and all of them have been successfully evaded by dropping jamming bombs, and this F-15S was still shot down after dropping jamming bombs.

In addition, the downed Major Ibrahim, who served for 12 years, flew more than 3,000 hours, flew hundreds of bombing missions in Yemen, and was attacked by man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, all of which were successfully evaded, can also rule out the possibility of pilot mistakes.

It's just that the rebels didn't lie either.

Immediately after being attacked by missiles, the F-15S dropped the bomb it was carrying, and then released jamming bombs while performing a large overload maneuver to evade.

At this point, the fighter definitely dropped altitude.

Subsequently, the fighter was hit by a missile, and the flight altitude was further reduced.

According to Major Ibrahim's report, after being hit by a missile, engine number one on the left side stopped, engine number two on the right side was not affected.

He started the afterburner of engine No. 2 in the first place.

It was also when Major Ibrahim controlled the fighter and tried to climb that he was fired upon by anti-aircraft guns and shot down by anti-aircraft guns.

The power of man-portable anti-aircraft missiles is inherently small, and the probability of one missile breaking two engines is not great.

The question is, where did the rebels get the SA-24?

You know, the Iraqi Defense Forces only have a small number of SA-7 and SA-14, and do not import SA-24.

There is only one possibility, the rebels received such missiles from Iran.

"Needle-S" is the latest Russian model of portable anti-aircraft missile, known as the first in the world, except for its own use, sold to only a few countries.

Iran is one of them.

At the beginning, when importing "Daur M1" and S-300 from Russia, Iran introduced a batch, and all of them were prepared for the Revolutionary Guards.

The Quds Force has already gone to Iraq, and it is possible that such missiles will be brought over.

Anyway, the Royal Saudi Air Force said that it did not believe that the rebels shot down the F-15s with anti-aircraft guns, believing that Iran was the real murderer.

Immediately after the Baghdad authorities released the video of the captured pilot, the Saudi authorities issued a statement warning the Baghdad authorities not to make a fuss about the pilot.

According to official Saudi Arabia, the authorities in Baghdad will pay for violating the international laws of war.

The next night, the Royal Saudi Air Force dispatched more than a dozen fighter jets to bomb a military camp outside Baghdad.

This time, the Royal Saudi Air Force dispatched EF2000s purchased from Europe, and used "Taurus" air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 200 kilometers.

Because the fighters had already been spotted by the rebels' anti-aircraft radars, the bombing did not cause many casualties to the rebels.

In fact, this kind of retaliatory bombing is mainly of political significance.

After achieving the goal of retaliation, the Royal Saudi Air Force did not bomb Baghdad again.

The main thing is that it's too risky.

During this operation, the EF2000 that carried out the bombing mission was locked by the air defense radar more than once, and if the missile had not been launched from more than two hundred kilometers away, it would definitely have been attacked by the air defense missile.

With the strength of the Royal Saudi Air Force, it is not yet capable of completely destroying the rebels' air defenses.

In addition, the Taurus cruise missiles are extremely expensive, and the Royal Saudi Air Force has less than a hundred in stock, which is a waste to bomb the barracks.

With the lesson of blood, the Royal Saudi Air Force has converged a lot over Iraq.

In order to avoid being attacked, the Royal Saudi Air Force explicitly requires fighter jets to fly at an altitude of no less than 5,000 meters and to drop bombs at the limit of range.

As for close air support, don't even think about it.

While the Royal Saudi Air Force has state-of-the-art fighter jets, the F-15S and EF2000, none of them are suitable for close air support missions.

In the U.S. military, close air support is the exclusive task of attack aircraft such as the A-10.

It is a pity that the Royal Saudi Air Force does not have specialized attack aircraft.

Fortunately, the Royal Saudi Air Force has another sharp weapon, that is, the "Wing Loong 2" integrated reconnaissance drone imported from China.

You know, in Yemen, drones perform almost eighty percent of strike missions.

In order to avoid casualties, the Royal Saudi Air Force has increased its investment in drones.

When dealing with high-risk targets, the Royal Saudi Air Force first thinks of drones, not sending fighter jets to drop bombs.

It's just that the problem is just as prominent.

In high-intensity warfare, especially when striking group targets, the combat efficiency of UAVs is far inferior to that of fighters.

Very simply, on the premise of ensuring sufficient time in the air, the "Wing Loong 2" can only carry six small missiles, or six 100-kilogram guided bombs, and the bomb load is only a few hundred kilograms, while an F-15SA can carry dozens of small-caliber bombs weighing several tons.

Used against Yemen's rebels, drones are still up to the task.

After all, the rebels are small groups, there are not many high-value targets, and the combat effectiveness ratio of drones far exceeds that of fighter jets.

Against the Iraqi rebels, the combat efficiency of UAVs is too low.

In Semavo, it is still the ground fighting that will determine the outcome of the battle.

In fact, the support provided to the Iraqi government forces, whether it is fighter jets or drones, is negligible, and far from the level of turning the tide of the war.

By the fifteenth day of the fierce battle, the rebels had captured the central city.

Government forces are still resisting, but they have retreated to the southern part of the city, and three-quarters of Semavo has fallen to the rebels.

In order to avoid total annihilation, government forces began to break through.

Two days later, the rebels announced the capture of Semavo.

However, sporadic fighting continued until five days later, mainly a small number of government troops who failed to break through, in addition to a small number of local residents.

Semavo fell, and Nasiriyah was exposed to the rebels.