Home » In Libya military planes crash one after another – Khalifa Abo Khraisse

In Libya military planes crash one after another – Khalifa Abo Khraisse

by admin

08 June 2021 12:35

On May 29, 2021, a Mig-21 fighter plane crashed during a military parade in Benghazi in eastern Libya. Jamal ibn Amer, the highest-ranking Libyan aviator in Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan Arab Armed Forces (Laaf), died in the accident, and one of the few in the country to have a pilot qualification. Laaf spokesman Ahmed al Mismari had announced “the largest parade in Libyan history”. But the promise was not kept and, even without a plane crash, it would have been totally irrelevant in a country that has seen far too many military displays in the last fifty years.

The Mig-21s and in general all the Soviet-era fighter planes, now old and unreliable, have always been a fatal sword of Damocles suspended over the heads of Libyan pilots. But believe me, it’s not just planes that have reached retirement age: the same goes for airmen, victims of a leadership cult based on the myth of Libyan military power.

Defeats, penalties and old junk
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union sold hundreds of warplanes to Muammar Gaddafi. The colonel lost them one after another in exploits such as the Libyan-Egyptian war of 1977 and in the two clashes with the US air force in the Gulf of Sirte in 1981 and 1989. Until then, the huge Libyan military spending had been chaotic. , not dictated by a coherent strategy. And given the wide variety of military equipment, it had been impossible to provide basic training for soldiers. In the 1980s a Libyan army armed to the teeth but unprepared for combat, paradoxically led by Haftar, suffered a humiliating defeat in Chad, where soldiers had far fewer weapons. It was then that, according to several observers, an unstoppable military decline began for Libya.

Military spending also fell with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, sanctions and various embargoes imposed on Libya prevented the purchase of new aircraft and the repair of old ones. Many planes were simply abandoned. When the United Nations and the United States lifted sanctions, Libya tried to modernize its fleet, but despite agreements made with countries like France and Italy, the majority of the aircraft remained unused. There are also no military pilots, even mediocre ones.

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According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in 2010 the Libyan Air Force could count on 374 aircraft, almost all Mig or their variations. In 2011, NATO bombings wiped out a large part of this fleet. A few years later, the fighting Libyan factions inherited the few aircraft still in operation. Among the old Soviet wrecks still in stock there were two distinguished, but not by merit: the Mig-21 and the Mig-23.

Flying coffins
Designed by the Mikojan-Gurevich studio in the Soviet Union, the Mig-21 debuted in 1955. It was the most produced supersonic fighter aircraft in aviation history and is still used in many countries, including Libya, although it is less and less. sure. In India, for example, they are called “flying coffins”. In that country, according to official data, since 1970 more than 170 Indian pilots and 40 civilians have died in accidents involving Mig-21s. In 2021 alone there have already been three.

In 1969 the Soviets launched the Mig-23 to replace the predecessor, but in reality they made what is possibly one of the worst aircraft in history. According to Robert M. Farley, author of Grounded: the case for abolishing the United States air force (University of Kentucky Press 2014), the Mig-23, called the Flogger (flogger), lacks many of the best features of previous models. It is difficult to maneuver and maintain safely. “No wonder the Mig-23 will stop being used before the Mig-21,” writes Farley.

Mig-23 was unsafe, and created strange situations in Libya

Mig-23 was unsafe, and created strange situations in Libya. On 18 July 1980 a Libyan Air Force Mig-23 crashed on the Sila mountains in Calabria. The pilot, Captain Ezzedin el Khalil, died instantly. According to the official version released later by Tripoli, the pilot had taken off together with another Mig-23 for a training mission from the Benina base in the direction of Marsa al Brega. A few minutes after departure, the plane headed by El Khalil changed course and altitude and it was no longer possible to contact him. According to Libyan investigators, the pilot had lost consciousness, and the semi-automatic piloting system adapted the altitude by continuing the flight until the fuel ran out. Eventually the plane crashed in Calabria. The Italian authorities returned the body with full military honors and at their own expense, because Gaddafi did not pay for the transport from Rome to Tripoli. The Libyan authorities declared that El Khalil was indeed a compatriot and published a resume of his, full of details and distinctions of merit. Instead, the Italian military intelligence services came to the conclusion that the military was of Syrian or Palestinian origin. According to other hypotheses, moreover, the crash of the plane is prior to July 18 and is to be connected with the Ustica massacre, which took place on June 27 of the same year.

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The Libyan Air Force lacked the personnel and experience to ensure the operation and maintenance of all the aircraft that Gaddafi had purchased from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. This is why Syria, in absolute secrecy, supplied pilots and ground personnel to two Libyan Mig-23 squadrons: to fill the gaps in the ranks of the Libyan air force. At the time, Syrian President Hafez al Assad and Gaddafi had excellent relations and cooperated on a military level.

A myth collapses
Gaddafi’s Libyan army lost all wars for all these reasons. The Libyans, however, continued to believe blindly in the myth of the power of their army, simply because Gaddafi proclaimed its greatness. The Libyans believed they had the best pilots, the best drivers, the best doctors and the best soldiers. These beliefs became an integral part of national identity. Ever since Haftar began building his own personality cult, he has promised in his propaganda to restore the prestige of the army. In doing so, he relied on the nostalgia of many compatriots. Describing each defeat as an epic victory and organizing parades after parades were Gaddafi’s golden rules, and Haftar followed them faithfully.

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Haftar managed to get his hands on various Mig, which he restored with the help of Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, and also received more from the allies. Although his supporters have sent him spare parts and other jets, the Mig-21s have a nefarious habit of falling even without being hit, especially during parades. On 29 August 2014 a Laaf Mig-21 crashed to the ground due to a technical failure in Al Bayda, after completing a bombing raid on Derna. Pilot Ibrahim al Manfi had failed to parachute out and died in the accident. Three days later, during a ceremony in honor of the deceased pilot, another Mig-21 crashed on Tobruk: pilot Rafa al Farani and three civilians died in the accident, while nine others were injured.

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Lack of training, poor infrastructure, and outdated aircraft contribute to making the take-off of any Soviet-era aircraft a potential disaster. As if that weren’t enough, the creative Libyan mind manages to increase the risk. On 7 December 2019, during the offensive launched by Haftar to conquer the capital, the forces allied to the government of national agreement in Tripoli shot down a Mig-23 Flogger of the armed forces of Haftar. It was piloted by General Amer al Jagam, who had led hundreds of air strikes since 2014. Al Jagam parachuted out of the plane and was arrested by Zawiya’s militias. That Mig-23 had sat collecting dust in a warehouse for years, until August 2019, when it was restored using parts from at least three different jet models. Hence the nickname “Franken-flogger”.

After General Al Jagam’s capture, the only qualified pilot left was Jamal ibn Amer, who died this year in the last military parade. Ibn Amer had already survived the Mig-21 curse twice: in one accident on June 3, 2018, during the Haftar attack on Derna, and in another on April 14, 2019, during the Haftar offensive in Tripoli. The pilot was accused of having killed many children during the air raids carried out in those years. Therefore, many people in western Libya celebrated when they received the news of his death.

(Translation by Giusy Muzzopappa)

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