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IRIAF WAR STORIES

An air war story by Colonel. Pour-Rezaie. Commanding officer of the 32nd TFS Hamedan Air Base;

Attacking K-2 Oil Storage Facilities and Pipeline (Baiji oil refinery) - August 1981

Let me begin by introducing the key players first: 11 months into the war, I was a Major commanding the 32nd Tactical Fighter SQ at Hamedan Air Base. My good friend, late Mahmoud Eskandari, a Major, was the commanding officer of the 31st TFS at that same base. The wing's Operations Officer was Major Faraj Baratpour (the leader of the famed raid on H-3 air bases in April) and the Wing's commander was Col. Golcheen. On top of that a senior staff officer, Lt. Colonel Saboonchee (a veteran F-4E flier), had arrived on a TDY direct from the 'Air Force HQ' in 'Tehran' to assist us in flying and fighting as we were undermanned. It was widely known that Lt. Col Saboonchee was one of the best fighter pilots. We knew that he was even better than our own wing commander. He was exacting, meticulous and a solid aviator with a good track record.

Hamedan air base was busy providing CAP and CAS missions to our front line troops in the south fighting the invading Iraqi forces. I, my other squadron mates and another officer 'Maj. Kazemi' were present at the wing's 'command post' awaiting orders or other combat instructions when a special order came through the hot-line: "Execute an attack on K-2 oil depot/pumping facilities"

It was believed at the time that the Iraqi government was exporting more than 200,000 barrels of crude oil to Europe via that single oil pumping and storage facility.

To maximize the damage, we decided to attack the target using 8 F-4E Phantoms. And our wing's best pilots were given the task to execute this mission. Hours later, the names of all fliers were written on the mission board. We'd be divided in two separate four ship formations. The entire raid/mission would be commanded and led by none other than Col. Saboonchee who'd recently arrived on TDY from Tehran HQ.

8 experienced pilots including myself, our wing's operations officer Maj. Baratpour and Maj. Eskandari 31st SQ's commander were all chosen for this important mission to deprive Saddam of his 'black gold' at least temporarily. I actually tried not to laugh when I looked at the mission board. Each senior pilot had a junior wingman to baby sit. I was number 4's lead.

I must add that K-2 oil facilities are near the famous city of Tikrit 100 miles north of Baghdad.

We assembled around 10:00 in the wing's secure briefing room to hear Col. Saboonchee's brief and further instructions. It was decided that ToT will be 13:00 (Time On Target) and that we will be attacking the K-2 facilities on a south-north route. We'd refuel over western Iran before dropping low to reach our target using landmarks to guide us in. However, I decided to voice my dissenting view about the attack route. I said: "Sir Colonel, we won't be needing any air refueling if we actually approach the target from the north and attack from that side." Then I added: "Sir, the northern mountains near Kirkuk will give us the added benefit of evading Iraqi radars." My good buddy Maj. Eskandari sided with me as well.

I actually expected our leader to say "No, we'll execute this mission as I have planned it" but then to my surprise he said: "Major, That is fine with me. No problem. You four guys plan your own attack route but make sure you'll make the ToT."

Long story cut short, the first 4 Phantoms took off from Hamedan air base, and then our four fighter aircraft took us a few minutes later to allow enough time for the first party to do their mission before we'd arrive over our target. It would reduce the risk of interference and/or friendly fire. Appearing over the target from different sides could also confuse the AAA gunners.

Having passed Sanandaj (in Kurdistan province) we dropped low to cross into the enemy territory. But my buddy Major Eskandari decided to drop low to avoid enemy radar detection a bit earlier than we'd planned. He was Zig-Zagging unnecessarily around these valleys at about 400 knots. I was probably 2 miles behind when I realized that he's taken the incorrect 320 deg. heading instead of the 305 degree heading that would eventually take us to K-2 facilities. I had to do something. 'Radio Silence' was crucial. What'd I do? Breaking the strict radio silence ran the risk of being detected and comprising the mission but I knew Maj. Eskandari was going the wrong way. But I decided to keep it short and brief: "Mahmoud, turn left. Your heading is incorrect" and then I waited to see if he'd correct his heading. I knew that all that zig-zags a minute ago must have thrown his navigational systems out of balance. He turned left briefly but then went on that silly 320 deg heading. I 'mic'd it in' and said: "Mahmoud turn to 305 now." Suddenly it seemed he'd realized his mistake and began to correct it accordingly. Then our formation leader Wing's Op Officer Major Baratpour came on the net and said: "Guys, shut up or you'll get us killed here." I laughed in my oxygen mask and through the intercom told my backseater: "Faraj is mad."

Well of course Faraj was right. The Iraqis could easily detect our location by listening in to our radio chatter.

Minutes later we reached our IP which happened to be a bridge before our final attack run. Increasing the speed to more than 500 knots we reached the K-2 facility right on time. To our surprise, Colonel Saboonchee's formation of four aircraft had also reached the target at that same minute we'd reached it. It was either their fault or ours. It did not matter. Releasing my bombs I marveled at the fact that poor Iraqi AAA crew must be confused. They were probably thinking to themselves: "Which one of these bastards should I shoot at?" I personally think it was a good thing. Their confusion was to our advantage as all of us got our butts safely home.

After touch down and parking on the ramp, I inspected my aircraft and then I discovered a 2 inch hole in one of the external fuel tanks (empty tanks by the time we'd landed I may add). It must have been hit by the enemy's AAA. Nothing extraordinary. This was in fact a normal occurrence.

At the 'de-brief' our gun camera footage were shown and analyzed. My rear facing camera had recorded a 'hell of fire, smoke, debris and destruction' on the ground. On the other hand one other camera showed something very strange. The footage showed a nose-gun attack by one of the Phantom pilots on what seemed to be an Iraqi border post resulting in a huge fire ball. Unleashing his 20 mm cannon on what he may have thought was a manned border post but in reality that fire ball meant that it was an ammo dump. The 20 mm shells had gone through the doors and windows resulting in that eventual huge explosion.

That footage actually belonged to none other than Col. Saboonchee. I think he had a good day.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir
 
An Air Combat Story by F-4E pilot Colonel (ret) Naghdi-Beyk
Date: Unknown
On a clear day I was tasked to bomb an important bridge deep inside Iraq known as 'Al-Habaniyah Bridge' which was of utmost importance to the outcome of the ongoing operations. This bridge ran north to south. And the Iraqi forces used the said bridge to supply their ground forces engaging our troops down south.
I was the WSO on this mission. My front seat was a senior Captain named Abolfazl Mahdyar. Interestingly enough, he was one of the many pro-Shah officers who was purged by the new revolutionary government. But upon the commencement of hostilities between Iran and Iraq, Captain Mahdyar returned to his base and effectively begged the base commander to let him fly combat missions for his country. He was a very experienced, loyal and dedicated officer. He loved Iran more than he loved himself. That dedication and patriotism ultimately cost his life later during the war.
Having taken off from the 3rd Tactical Air Base (Hamedan) as a single ship, me and Capt Mahdyar flew a westerly route towards the target. Unfortunately the aerial images we had on our knee pads and the ones we used in the pre-flight brief were rather outdated. Most of those images were taken by our RF-4Es in 1977. So the mission planners and the ones in the war planning office had perceived this bridge to be the one used by the Iraqis to supply their forces. We reached the bridge, released our ordnance on the target and destroyed the bridge. All our bombs hit their marks except one.
However a few seconds later we flew over a bigger, wider and more important bridge. Unbeknownst to all of us, this new bridge was the one actually being used by them to ferry supplies and war material to their own soldiers. We over flew it again and marked it on our map, noted the distance and headed back to our own base.
Upon landing, I and Capt Mahdyar ran to the mission planning office and reported what we had seen moments ago. We put a classified report together, sent it to the higher ups urging them to bomb that new main bridge right now. We basically reported that today's mission was a waste and useless as the Iraqis have set up another bridge and are using that to bring supplies down to the southern front. We also reported that we didn't encounter any AAA or anti air defenses in or around the target area, but we are certain that the Iraqis having noted our successful strike against an 'old' target will definitely set up layers of AAA and air defenses around the new bridge and will be waiting for any of us who dare going back. So it is of utmost urgency and importance to destroy the bridge right now rather than wait a few days which will run the risk of encountering deadly air defense systems. We requested that they allow us (today's strike mission) to bomb the new target without further delay.
And so the bureaucracy took over. It took more than four long days for the war planners in Tehran to authorize a new strike mission on the new bridge. This delay caused the Iranian Air Force to lose one of its best and brightest fighter pilots 'Major Darius Nadimi' and his capable WSO Capt. Rostamian. They ran into many layers of AAA during their strike run and both were killed over that target. What we'd predicted 4 days before their untimely deaths, had actually come true. Ignoring our fresh intelligence cost lives.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir story posted by Phoenix
 
An air combat story by F-5E pilot Colonel Parveez Nasri (retired)

Date: October 1980
Vahdati 4th air base

I was assigned to perform a CAS (close air support) mission west of Ahwaz (capital of the province of Khuzestan) as a wingman to then Captain Mansoor Azad. We went down low to avoid detection and released our bombs as requested by the forward air controller on enemy positions. Right after the "post target turn" I was hit by the Iraqi AAA. It was bad. And then I decided to eject. Informing my wingman of the situation at hand. Captain 'Azad' told me to go due east towards the friendlies.

The aircraft automatically climbed and went as high as 3000 feet. There it suddenly stabilized, yet I had about 640 knots indicated (1185 Km/hr - near the speed of sound) speed. I now could clearly see the runway back at Vahdati air base. But ejecting at such high speed was risky. With the right engine still in 'burner', I pulled the throttles back trying to decrease the speed. Nothing happened. it appeared that playing with throttles did not do anything. Again and again I pulled and pushed the throttles in a frantic attempt to reduce my speed. Nothing.

I was left with one decision: To cut the fuel to the right engine. As soon as I did that, the troubled engine went quiet. It worked. By Pulling and pushing the stick back and forth I managed to gently reduce the altitude as well.

Since I had pitch and yaw control, i decided to bring the jet back. It was worth the risk to bring this badly needed jet back to base. It could be repaired, I thought.Quickly went thru the emergency check lists as I informed the ground crew of my dire state. They told me that the 'arresting barrier' will be up and ready on the runway. Using the only available left engine power I lined the jet up with the run way and almost crash landed. The arresting barrier worked but then it snapped. The drag chute deployed and my jet came to a stand still.

The ATC and ramp caravan couldn't believe their eyes. They were yelling 'what the hell are you doing' and 'watch out' but I could only focus on my job.

The wing commander, ground crew and other personnel came rushing towards me and my badly hit aircraft. My crew chief couldn't believe his eyes. He said, sir how did you manage to land in this crippled bird. He took my arm and shoved me under the belly of the aircraft. And there I saw the extent of the damage. It was very extensive. Most cables were torn apart. I was in shock too.

A few days later after completing another sortie, the head of the squadron's maintenance unit approached me and asked me to have a word with him. He said, sir your landing the other day was a total miracle as the ejection seat lever and cables were hit too. Had you pulled the ejection lever, the only thing in your hand would have been the lever itself. You would have been trapped in your jet. I didn't have an ejection seat so to speak.

Thirty plus years have passed since that day, and yet I remember the whole thing very vividly. It was a miracle I survived.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir Posted by Phoenix
 
A war story by F-14A RIO Col. Ali M. Rafi'ee

Date: 23rd of July, 1983
Taking off in our F-14 Tomcat from the 7th Shiraz air base as that day Combat Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft we were to arrive over the strategic northern Persian Gulf region (NW of Bushehr) and provide daily CAP missions as directed by our SOC (Sector Operation Center). My front seater was Captain (later Brig. Gen) Rostami.
Right after our take-off and before we could reach our CAP area, the air defense radar controller informed us of the presence of an usually high flying intruder (with an altitude above 65000 feet) that was fast approaching our territory. Since there was no other interceptor in the area to go after the suspected aircraft, we asked the SOC to vector us towards the target. Turning due north I quickly managed to acquire the target on my scope. As we'd suspected It was indeed a Soviet built MiG-25 Foxbat flying high and very fast.
Captain Rostami went nose up full power using after-burner to reach our maximum speed. Reaching 45000 feet we started getting ready to violently greet the Iraqi MiG-25. Through out the climb I constantly went back and forth with my pilot to arrange for an optimal lock while tracking the Iraqi aircraft using the ever magnificent AWG-9 radar. At an optimal range and distance, the Phoenix missile was launched and I saw the missile being released off our aircraft streaking towards the Iraqi MiG-25.
It took mere seconds for the missile to hit the poor bastard. Having seen the impact and the fireball in the sky made us rejoice and we couldn't hide our excitement in the cockpit either. Seconds later, the air defense radar confirmed the kill too.
That day's intercept and successful shoot down of an Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat in essence put a stop to Iraq's blind bombing of our population centers using their Mig-25s for over a year.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir Post by Phoenix


An air combat story by F-4E pilot retired Brig. General Cyrus Baheri

Date: August 1981
Hamedan, 3rd Tactical Fighter Base


Early in the war, the Iranian air force's primary role was to attack and destroy Iraq's oil refineries and power grid in order to deprive Saddam's regime of its energy resources.

I volunteered for that day's mission. Our target on that fateful day was 'Baghdad's Al-Dorah' oil and petroleum facility. One of our main concerns was the close proximity of 'Al-Rasheed air base' to the target. Iraqis could scramble their nimble jets to intercept our heavy bombers, or to use the base's heavy air defense systems to target our flight.

Four bomb laden F-4E Phantoms were to attack this oil refinery. One of these four aircraft was to fly with us to the border and stay airborne as a reserve striker so that in case one of us was hit or faced an emergency, he would take over and do the job. As I was a volunteer for the mission, I was chosen to be the number 3 in our tight formation.

Taking off early in the morning, we managed to reach our airborne tanker track. All fueled up, we went down low to avoid being detected by the Iraqi radar. The airborne tanker would wait to refuel us again as we headed back to base.

Flying a south to north course, our formation reached the vicinity of 'Al-Dorah' refinery. However, as soon as we entered Baghdad's air space, we got targeted from all sides. 37 MM and 57 MM AAA began firing, and then Soviet built 'Surface to Air Missiles' started tracking us. Having studied the aerial photographs during the briefing, I was quite familiar with the area but what we had not really anticipated was the heavy presence of AAA or rather the numbers we faced. The sky was thick with flak. Also, the nature of the mission dictated that we flew above these deadly AAA systems to reach our important target. One by one, we dropped our Mk-82 bombs (delayed Snake-Eye bombs) and departed the area as fast as we could. As I banked to leave the target, I was hit several times by AAA. All of a sudden I noticed that my air to air and air to ground targeting system (radar) went out of commission. Then one by one other warning lights started coming on. My poor aircraft was vibrating badly. Next thing I noticed was that we were losing fuel. Apparently our fuel tanks must have been hit. I looked back and saw that fuel was actually leaving the aircraft.

Unfortunately my WSO was on his first combat mission inside of Iraq. He was nervous. I calmed him down and told him that everything will be fine. Putting the aircraft in a steep climb, I wanted to gain altitude in case we needed to glide back. Also the higher altitude on our egress would definitely put us out of the reach of Iraqi AAA. We reached the airborne tanker with minimum fuel and started receiving gas.

The boom operator on the KC-707 informed me of the damage. We were leaking fuel from four different points on the aircraft. The tanker's boom operator said; "Sir, your aircraft looks like a sieve." The two other aircraft received their fuel and departed the tanker track. But I could not do that. We were losing fuel as fast as we were receiving it. I asked the tanker's pilot if he could give us more fuel and accompany us to our home base. After a few back and forth between me and him, he agreed to lend more fuel to us and fly with us to base in case we needed more.

After declaring emergency, we landed in a severely damaged aircraft. I was grateful to be alive.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir Posted by Phoenix
 
This is an aerial combat story by former F-4E fighter pilot Colonel Jalil Pour-Rezaee in which he led a formation of Iranian F-4E Phantom IIs on a high altitude bombing run of Iraqi positions in 1980.

I was the chief of operations in Bushehr 6th tactical air base and Col. Kakavand was the wing commander.
Our air force operations planners had decided that we should conduct the first ever high altitude bombing raid of the war. And by high altitude, I mean bombing enemy positions from 42,000 feet using 4 Phantom fighter bombers each armed with six M117 750 lbs iron bombs.

For those of you who may not be familiar with aerodynamics or airplanes, bombing from 42,000 feet means that the aircraft has no maneuverability and just like a passenger airplane, it can only cruise and can not move around fast.

When this plan was devised by the headquarters, I was commander of a training squadron in 9th Bandar Abbas and then Shiraz 7th air bases, and had no clue that this decision was made by higher ups. And on the very same day that I was transferred to Bushehr 6th AB as Wings Operations I was told of the plan. Since I was a newbie, I asked to be number 3 in the formation.

Taking off from Bushehr air base, we increased our altitude as we entered Omidiyah's air space (SW of Iran) and reach 42,000 feet. Finally we were over the target. But the F-14s that were supposed to be there to protect us weren't there. The enemy air defense shot a few SAM-2 missiles at us. These huge missiles looked like 'telephone poles' when they passed us. They were scary and we were just darn lucky. And we were scared to death. Any body who says he is not scared of a 10 ft tall missile coming at him is either a liar, or has lost his marbles.

This type of bombing was like playing poker while you showed the other guy all the cards you had. The Iraqis could see us on their radar scopes possibly from 100 miles away, and then they could see our huge white contrails from 20 miles away. This meant we had lost the basic rule of air warfare which was the 'element of surprise.' We had none of it by the time we reached our target area.

Even though our F-4Es were equipped with the ECM pods and jammers, it was not enough to blind the enemy radars. Despite our best efforts to keep a tight formation to maximize our jamming capabilities, once we were past them then they could see us beyond our jammers' frequency. And the Iraqi air force always sent up a few interceptors to catch us, with no avail.


The HQ Operations Planners' reasoning were that the chance of getting hit in a high altitude bombing run is around 4 percent, and they had a point. They were right about the percentage of getting hit, but in each pilot's mind this 4% had already been increased to 100%. There is a bullet with a name on it out there.

I had rather funny moments in my moments of being scared to death. Once we were at that altitude an Iraqi Mirage F-1 launched a missile at our formation from afar. That missile went right by my canopy and I just ducked. My own reaction to an incoming enemy missile made me laugh hard in a moment of sheer terror.

Around the same time, an idea came to my mind. I was wondering why we are not attacking the enemy using two formations of 4 Phantoms. 8 bombers flying together can carry bigger loads, can afford better ECM/ECCM capabilities and 8 jets provide more safety than 4 jets do and we could inflict much more damage. This also meant, the first 4 bombers would fly in, followed by another flight of 4. The second formation provide ECM/ECCM coverage to the first formation, and as the first one leaves the area and the second formation enters. This way they both provide mutual ECM coverage.

I discussed this new idea (that had not been tried before in the Iran-Iraq war by the IRIAF) with Wing Commander Colonel Kakavand. He previously ran the Electronic Warfare Project and was a capable man. Having heard my idea, he instructed me to discuss my plans with the 'Deputy Commander of Operations' Colonel Houshyar in Tehran.

A week later I was in the air force headquarters in Tehran. I went by Col. Houshyar's office and asked his adjutant to let me see him. Moments later, Col. Houshyar came out of his office himself and asked me to go in. Standing in attention before him, he told me to relax and offered me a seat. Then he quickly said: "Pour-Rezaee I saw your gun camera footage of the earlier strike mission against 'Nassiriyah' electric power plants and I loved it." He went on: I'd to show your gun camera footage to the commander in chief of the air force too. And as I played the footage for him, commander's eyes got bigger and bigger. And he was in awe of your work. And so I couldn't bear it any more, and told him right there: Sir, RASHTYS did it again."

Needless to say that both I and Col. Houshyar were from the northern province of Guilan, and since the province's capital is Rasht, we were both considered 'Rashtys' in his eyes.

After discussing the plan with me in details and asking a few questions, he instructed me to proceed with my original plan. And as long as I was in Bushehr, the high altitude bombings went on.

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir
 
An air combat story from Col. M. Roustaie (Ret. F-14A pilot)

Date: 3 November 1985

Even though it was supposed to be a crisp Fall morning, the humidity and an unusual heat wave In Bushehr made the air heavy and difficult to breathe.

My knowledgeable RIO was Captain Ghodrat Mardani whose bravery and knowledge were some of his best assets. I was proud to fly with him. We were both midnight to morning alert pilots. I had tried to get some shut eye but anxiety did not allow that. Some time around the dawn, I got rattled by the Klaxon which made me run to the hot-line to get the heading, speed and altitude of the bogeys however my RIO motioned to me that he'd already spoken with the radar controllers and had the necessary information for our intercept.

We ran out to the jet and were greeted by our ground crew that had prepared the jet for today's mission. It was rather a well known fact that the US trained Iranian technicians serving with us were among the best in the world. In less than 2-3 minutes we were on the active run way about to take off. The quick reaction jets always are always given the take off priority. Engines at combat power (in afterburner), I released the brakes and our bird sped quickly on the runway. While taking off, my RIO was interrogating the ground based radar controllers about the latest information on incoming bogeys.

Radar: "Turn south. I have been monitoring three unidentified targets (bogeys) that have been going up and down the Kuwait-Iraqi shore for the past 20 minutes. Keep your speed high."

As the famed US Navy fighter pilot Captain 'Samuel C. Flynn, Jr.'*, once said "speed is life" when you're flying a combat aircraft. Therefore I adhered to this sage advice and went as fast as possible. Moreover, this was during the height of the 'tanker war' in the Persian Gulf. The enemy wanted to knock out our oil tankers and we wanted to foil his plans protecting our own precious tankers. This meant flying fast to get where the threat was.

Ground controller came online abruptly and said: "The bogeys have changed their heading. They're now going for the ships. Adjust accordingly." And then gave us the proper heading and altitude. Our position was now thirty miles from these bogeys but I couldn't see them on my radar. Ground controller was constantly updating me, and yet I could not see the targets on my radar. This wasn't new to us. Haze, dust and humidity had adverse effects on our powerful AWG-9 radar. It was nature vs. the machine. Now fifteen miles out, and nothing yet. I decelerated a bit to be able to scan the horizon with my own eyes. All of a sudden, I caught a glimpse of the targets (now bandits) down there on my right. They appeared to be 4-6 miles away. Two in front, and two in trail slowly turning left.

I had to do a spiral turn to keep them in my sight. To our good fortune, all those four jets had not seen us up to that point. Now, what was until now my life saver, i.e speed, became my adversary. I was about to overshoot as I closed with the enemy. I hopelessly but quickly toggled from AIM-54 Phoenix to AIM-9 Sidewinder on my control stick and lobbed the Sidewinder at the lead aircraft. As I passed the lead, I saw the other two aircraft jettisoning their missiles/rockets in the water to be able to retreat faster. Seconds later, the lead also jettisoned his anti-ship rocket and turned into me. This was now a knife-fight in a phone booth. Asking my RIO to keep his eyes peeled for the other two wingmen as they could jump us any minute.

We were now four to five thousand feet apart. I went max speed. So did my adversary. We both ended up in a flat scissor manuever trying to gain the advantage at five hundred feet above the water. It lasted for eternity, it seemed. Negative Gs turned into positive Gs and vice versa, It was hell of a dog fight. Completing two more rolls, I realized this was becoming pointless. Ground radar came back and said the two wingmen were now feet dry, but he could see more enemy aircraft coming down the Kuwaiti shore. I did a quick mental calculation: The enemy plot to attack our ships had been foiled. The enemy had jettisoned at least three or four priceless anti-ship missiles. Friendly ships were safe. Mission accomplished. It was not all for naught. Time to fold and go home.'

I actually did one more roll with him hoping to get the guns on him but it was impossible.

Frustrated, I disengaged and headed home. On the way back, radar informed us of the presence of another F-14 in the air to fight off these new bogeys. My RIO told me he was good, but frustrated that we couldn't score any kills today.

It was a depressing day but we were alive and could fight another day.


==============


p.s: US Navy Captain Samuel Flynn Jr., was a naval aviator and a veteran of the Vietnam War with more than 31 years of service in the Navy flying various jets including the F-4 Phantom II. While flying an F-4S Phantom, he shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 on June 21, 1972. Captain Sam Flynn, who commanded Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 and NAS Kingsville, Texas, was an F-14 flight instructor at Oceana naval base for 15 years after retiring, teaching young pilots how to do it like he did. RIP

Source: Rahrovan-artesh.ir
 
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