[oldplayer]

Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war. There has been more than a decade of improvements made in missile technology. They are deadly.

Anti-missile defenses have also been improved.

The question remains as to whether the offense or the defense has made the most strides. It will be a dangerous experiment for the players on each side.

[Zhang Fei]

[The question remains as to whether the offense or the defense has made the most strides. It will be a dangerous experiment for the players on each side.]

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In an era of smart weapons, the offense will always have the advantage. Warplanes can go right to the edge of the system’s effective range and drop cruise missiles with cluster bomb submunitions to whack the radars. Then there’s the low flying terrain hugging kamikaze drones. This ain’t WWII, when you have to fly directly over the target and line it up in your Norden bombsight. And then there’s this:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-israel-greece/israel-trained-against-russian-made-air-defense-system-in-greece-sources-idUSKBN0TN10G20151204

[Zhang Fei]

[Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war. There has been more than a decade of improvements made in missile technology. They are deadly.]

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Re the losses, not one was shot down by one of the big Russian SAM systems. Friendly fire, mechanical issues, golden BB’s, et al.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aviation_shootdowns_and_accidents_during_the_Iraq_War#Fixed-wing_aircraft

[NorthMountain]

List of aviation losses during the Iraq war 2003-2010. You might find it interesting.

[ETCM]

Approximately 25 fixed-wing aircraft were lost in the Iraq war ... They are deadly.

Key word "lost". Very few to enemy SAMs. Most were crashes, friendly fire, etc. Of course, they didn't face anything like the S300. But then, defeating air defenses is about tactics, planning and intelligence. Also, I don't believe for a minute that the S300 system has been held back all this time. Sounds more like making excuses for poor performance.