
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991                   TAG: 9102090217
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN THE PERSIAN GULF                                LENGTH: Short

IRAQI PLANES IN IRAN WORRY NAVY

Iraqi warplanes taking refuge in Iran include its best ship-killers and pose a greater threat to naval forces now than they did in Iraq, the U.S. naval commander said.

"I don't subscribe to the theory that they went there just for vacation," said Vice Adm. Stanley Arthur. Other allied commanders have said they do not believe the planes in Iran will re-enter the war.

"I just can't bet on that," Arthur said Thursday.

"With so many ships in a small body of water, I have to know what's on either side of me. It means instead of looking in one direction, I'm looking in three or four."

Of the estimated 147 Iraqi planes in Iran, 121 are fighters, including F-1 Mirages equipped with ship-killing Exocet missiles. Also, Arthur said, some missile-equipped Frelon helicopters escaped Iraq and were hidden somewhere.

"I'm very much concerned about those Super Frelons," he said. "Where are they? What are they doing?"

Of the several hundred Iraqi warplanes still hidden in hardened shelters, Arthur said most were best suited to support ground combat, something he speculated was no coincidence.

With Iran's coastal terrain, jets could streak at a low altitude undetected along valleys parallel to the Persian Gulf, giving U.S. warships only 40 miles and three minutes warning. From Iraq, the distance is up to 200 miles, and the warning time up to 15 minutes.

In addition, Exocets have a range of 30 miles.

Arthur said crews on ships would have little time to react if the Iraqi planes launched attacks from Iran.

by CNB