“The IAF has the ability to generate a strike force and get it into Iran without U.S. detection. “
Not so. We have the entire mid-east covered by air assets and other means. And in order to fly in Iraqi airspace, electronic codes needs to be programmed, without those authorization codes and incorporated in the ATO, those jets would be intercepted.
No way a strike package could enter Iraq without being detected.
Our electronic methods would be tracking such a move from Israeli jets start-up, taxi, take-off, en-route, attack, post mission return.
Israeli Air Force is good, but not as good as US air forces. Red Flag and other exercises prove that when we have gone head-to-head with them.
There is no way that we are capping the entire middle east, and why would we still be protecting Iraqi airspace?
The areas of coverage would require multiple AWACS on station 24/7. And again, I can’t imagine that given what we have going on in Afghanistan and Syria. Our ISIS strikes in Northern Iraq are certainly don’t constitute a major air offensive.
Are there still any American Patriot batteries in Iraq? I don’t think so.
Depends on the flight path. Israel could fly through Jordan, Saudi Arabia, over the Gulf and into Iran without entering Iraqi airspace. It would mean a longer trip but I believe they could pull it off.
Disagree, on a couple of points:
First, regarding strike package generation/launch. The IAF jets will be uploaded in their shelters—won’t be detected by satellites. The load-out/marshaling/launch will be conducted against the backdrop of a major exercise; dozens of jets, launching, conducting various types of training and recovering over a period of several days. How do you detect the strikers when they’re using call-signs/IFF squawks similar to other IAF units?
As for the tankers, given them a commercial call-sign/squawk (probably for an air charter). They follow commercial flight corridors; the fighters switch comms and emitters “off” before joining on the tanker and go resolution cell, flying in a tight formation so radar paints a single return—and since most tracking is based on IFF, the only squawk will be from the tanker.
The IAF has a long history of conducting ops that we’re not aware of until the bombs start falling. Examples include the long-distance raid against PLO HQ in Tunis (1985) and the strike on Syria’s nuclear complex in 2008.
Most importantly, it is highly unlikely the IAF would route their package through Iraq. A flight path across southern Turkey or over northern Saudi Arabia is more likely (particularly if Riyadh is cooperating), or all the way around the Arabian peninsula.
We have good intel coverage of the region..but the key is being able to detect unusual activity that is designed to look routine, as practiced by an organization (the IAF) that has few rivals in tactical deception.