Saudi's F-15 fighter plane crashes during war drill

Riyadh: An F-15 fighter jet crashed during a military exercise at King Abdulaziz airbase in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi defence ministry announced that both alert pilots survived the crash. But military analysts are claiming that this was not an accident but an act of sabotage. A few days ago, Iran launched a long-range electronic warfare system. Therefore, analysts are alleging that Iran may have shot down the Saudi plane. Analysts also point out that reports of Iran preparing to attack Saudi sites were published a few days ago.

Two days ago, the Saudi Arabian Air Force conducted an exercise on Sunday night. While the study of Saudi warplanes was happening in the Taif area here, an advanced fighter plane of F-15S type suddenly crashed on the premises of King Abdulaziz airbase. The Saudi agencies did not reveal the information about the incident for 24 hours. But after a video of the Saudi plane crash went viral on social media, the Saudi defence ministry released the details on Monday night.

The defence ministry informed that both the pilots had jumped out safely before the plane crashed. Also, the work is on to find out the cause of the accident and it is also predicted that the accident may have happened due to technical failure. But international analysts have a different take on what happened to the Saudi plane. Military analysts claim this is not an ordinary accident but a saboteur act. The organization alleged that Iran was responsible for downing the Saudi plane. A few days before the Saudi air exercise, Iran had announced that it had inducted a long-range electronic warfare system. It is claimed that Iran has created the said system by copying the Russian-made ‘Krasukha’. It is also reported that the Saudi plane crash may have occurred on October 25 and not on Sunday. This is because the viral video of the Saudi plane crash was posted on social media on October 25. Analysts are pointing out that Iran installed an electronic warfare system on October 23.

Iran’s Deputy Defence Minister Afshin Naderi Sharif announced on October 23 that the air defence system had been installed. Sharif had announced that this system could disrupt the network of enemy aircraft at a distance of up to 400 km. Therefore, international analysts claimed that the network of the Saudi F-15 aircraft might have been jammed before reaching Taif. Therefore, these analysts say Iran is behind the suspected attack on the Saudi plane.

Meanwhile, US newspapers claimed Iran could launch attacks on Saudi fuel companies, bases and other important sites. The newspaper said that the Saudi intelligence agency had given this information to the United States. Saudi Arabia has not officially commented on this. Iran rejected the accusations of the United States and accused the United States of fuelling the dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia. After this, there were reports that the United States had dispatched its warplanes for anti-Iranian operations.