(what if the shah of Iran had ordered 80 F 15s instead of 80 Tomcat, during the Iraqi-Iran war would Iran have lost any)

The F-15 Eagle hasn’t had to deal with fighter jets of the same stature as the Sukhoi Su-27. Of the 104 kills it has achieved (with no loss they say) most were MiGs and Sukhois of the previous generation. Among these MiGs four or five were fourth-generation MiG- 29s shot down in the Gulf war and Bosnian war. Nevertheless, the third-generation Iraqi MiG-25 stands out for nearly shooting down US F-15s in the Gulf war or harassing coalition fighter jets. Iraqi maintains and has “evidence” of an F-15C shot down by one of their MiG-25s. Below are some encounters between the MiG-25, one of the fastest planes ever built vs the F-15, a plane made to counter the former


In a different incident, two MiG-25s approached a pair of F-15s, fired missiles at long range which were evaded by the F-15s, and then outran the American fighters. Two more F-15s joined the pursuit, and a total of 10 air-to-air missiles were fired at the MiG-25s, though none reached them. In another incident, an Iraqi MiG-25PD, after eluding eight USAF F-15s at long range, fired three missiles at General Dyanamics EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft, forcing them to abort their mission and leave attacking aircraft without electronic jamming support

NB: The MiG-25 had a powerful radar enough to burn through the electronic countermeasures (ECM) of enemy aircraft.

Some Israelis have been fired upon

In a similar engagement , on 29 July 1981, a Syrian MiG-25 was again downed by an Israeli F-15A, after which a second MiG-25 launched its R-40 missiles at the F-15 and its wingman, but they missed

5 January 1999

In a group of four Iraqi MiG-25s crossed the no-fly zones and sparked a dogfight with two patrolling F-15Csand two patrolling F-14Ds. A total of six missiles were fired at the MiGs, none of which hit them. The MiGs then bugged out

That is as far as the Israelis and Americans are willing to admit, “MiG-25s fired and missed” or “F-15 crashed because of mechanical failure”. The other sides contend that their MiG-25s shot down some F-15s. Except for one instance were US acknowledged that an F- 15 was damaged by the Iraqi MiG-25.

Operation Samura was an operation by the Iraqi Air Force during the Gulf War to decisively engage USAF F-15Cs using MiG-25 jets, and break the "wall" of F-15s that the coalition had established along Iraq's border with Iran. It demonstrated the last true offensive operation of the Iraqi Air Force before grounding their air assets in an attempt to preserve them for future use. Through careful planning and coordination, two MiG-25 jets successfully caught two American F-15 fighters off guard and engaged them in a dogfight. After several minutes of aerial maneuvering and several fired missiles, the Iraqi jets returned to Tammuz Air Force  Base undamaged, and the F-15s returned to Saudi Arabia, albeit with one damaged.

Actual encounter

On January 30, an Iraqi intelligence unit intercepted communications that one of the patrols, "Xerex 31" was approaching "bingo fuel" which necessitated an hour and a half round trip to an aerial tanker. This left just the two F-15 jets "Xerex 33" piloted by USAF Capt. Thomas Dietz, and 1st Lt. Robert Hehemann both of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing to patrol the skies. Recognizing the opportunity, two MiG-25s were scrambled from two separate air bases. Capt. Mahmoud Awad of No. 96 squadron took off from Qadessiya Air Base, while Capt. Mohammed Jassi as-Sammarai of No. 97 squadron took off from Tammuz Air Base. After engaging a false target, both pilots were directed to Dietz and Hehemann by Iraqi air traffic control.The two flights immediately engaged one another, with Hehemann firing two missiles, one of which was a dud. At the same time as-Sammarai locked Hehemann up and fired an R-40 missile, which went ballistic after as-Sammarai was forced into evasive maneuvers to avoid Hehemann's missile. Nevertheless, as-Sammarai's missile found its target and caused damage to Hehemann's left engine, but his F-15 remained flyable. Meanwhile, Dietz engaged Awad, attempting to fire several missiles at him. After Dietz's aircraft's missiles failed to fire three times, Awad managed to get a radar lock on Dietz's F-15 throwing him onto the defensive. Dietz attempted to bug out to the east. Hehemann, still engaged with as-Sammarai, fired another missile in an attempt to down the Iraqi MiG, and then found himself locked up by the now unoccupied Awad. Hehemann narrowly avoided Awad's missile with the use of chaff and flares. After this, as-Sammarai and Awad egressed the zone west in full afterburner back towards Tammuz Air Base. The Iraqi Air Force first credited as-Sammarai with a "possible" victory which was later upgraded to "confirmed" after a Bedouin smuggler discovered wreckage of an F-15 very close to where Iraqi radars had allegedly lost track of a falling F-15 on January 30.Later Iraqi government documents claim two F-15s recorded as being shot down in this engagement.However, there is no record of an F-15 being shot down on January 30 in the area west of Baghdad. Nonetheless, this is probably the closest an F-15 has ever come to being shot-down in air-air combat.

 Syrian Air Force claim to have shot down one Israeli F-15

In the most frequently cited version, on Feb. 13, 1981, Israeli F-15s ambushed a pair of Syrian MiG-25Ps and shot one down. In revenge, so the story goes, the Syrians set up an ambush on June 29, 1981. The Syrian MiG-25Ps destroyed one F-15 using two R-40/AA-6 Acrid air-to-air missiles fired from the range of 25 miles. There are problems with this story. Neither the Syrians nor the Russians have ever provided any evidence, such as radar tapes or wreckage. Another issue is that the Syrian air force never actually received any MiG-25Ps. Syria acquired several batches of Foxbats, including two of MiG-25PDS interceptors, but no MiG-25Ps. While frequently described as a downgraded export variant of the Foxbat, the MiG-25PDS was actually much better-equipped than the early interceptor variant was. In addition to the powerful Smerch 2A radar of the MiG-25P, it had an infrared search-and-track system under the forward fuselage, radar warning receivers in blisters on the intakes and big chaff and flare dispensers in place of the wing fences. Any source citing “Syrian MiG-25Ps” is of dubious quality. Furthermore, the Foxbat the Israelis shot down in February 1981 was a MiG-25R – a reconnaissance variant – flying over Lebanon all by itself. This is of particular importance because, in contrast to the Russian claims, the Syrians claim that a MiG-25PDS flying alone shot down the F-15 in retaliation 

Here is where it gets interesting

According to the Syrian version of the story, the MiG-25PDS mimicked a MiG-25R on a reconnaissance sortie by flying very high and fast in the direction of Beirut. When eight Israeli F-15s rose to intercept, the Syrian pilot fired two R-40s at their leader — one from around 37 miles, the other from slightly less than 31 miles, well outside the range of AIM-7F Sparrows, the longest-ranged air-to-air missiles in the Israeli arsenal in 1981.

NB: Though an all out-interceptor, the MiG-25 was a formidable foe. In war all fighter jets are the same. Difference narrows down to just two things: Pilot skill and conditions of the engagement. The MiG-25 was built around the engines and nose with no emphasis on agility whatsoever. It weighs 20 tons while the F-15 weighs 12 tons. A paltry thrust to weight ratio of 0.41 and max g load of 4.5 did not do it any favours either were air to air engagements were concerned but it kept harassing very agile F-15s arguably shooting a few. Without airborne early warning aircraft (AEW&C) monitoring Iraqi airspace 24/7 such as the Boeing E-3 Sentry, US Air Force and Navy were going to lose more than the F/A - 18 Hornet from VFA-81 Piloted by Captain Michael Speicher that was shot down by Lt. Zuhair Dawood in a MiG-25PDS of the 84th squadron of the Iraqi Air Force on the first night of Gulf war.