Brave Saudi Pilot Who Made History In Iraq-Kuwait War

Captain Ayed Al ShamraniThe recent airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen by Saudi Arabia have brought to memory stories of bravery and courage by the Saudi Royal Air Force pilots in Iraq Kuwait War. The conflict had occurred when Iraq accused Kuwait for stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling and President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein decides to invade Kuwait after attack. On 24th January 1991, an American Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and two British ships had issued the warnings of attack by three Iraqi warplanes. All the three Iraqi fighters were in Dassault Mirage F1 aircraft that were equipped with Exocet anti-ship missiles.

A pilot of an F-15 C Eagle, Captain Ayed Al-Shamrani immediately responded to the call, made by the Saudi Royal Air Forces 13th squadron from the Dhahran military base. The warning was that the three Iraqi Jets had entered Saudi airspace from the northern part of the Kingdom and they will obviously attack the warships stationed in the Arabian Gulf water.

Captain Ayed Al-Shamrani showed his bravery immediately after the warning and intersected the attacking planes, by using solar-guided short-medium AIM-9 anti-aircraft missiles. The attack by this brave pilot resulted in downing the two Iraqi fighter jets within only 30 seconds. This aggression led the third fighter jet to flee the scene after firing the missile, which fell into the water without any injury.

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