Widebody; Low Wing; 4 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
Conflict Airborne Conflict
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Aircraft; Procedure
On descent into OAKB we were assigned a speed close to minimum clean speed and given a vector for 'Traffic and approach.'  During descent to FL 240 as cleared; First Officer responded crisply and smoothly to a climb RA (I reported it to ATC) the Controller said it was an aircraft doing Mach 1.  Closest vertical separation to traffic was 700 feet.  We were clear of conflict by FL250 and told to then maintain FL250.  The subsequent vectors; approach; and landing were normal.The Controller alluded to the fact that at Mach 1 the aircraft had ballooned above his cleared altitude on level off.  We could neither see the traffic nor hear him on our VHF assigned frequency.  I acknowledge that traffic separation in a combat area must be challenging at best.  The Controller seemed to handle the conflict smoothly and professionally.  If further lateral separation than currently used is possible; it might mitigate some of these traffic conflicts. What a great tool TCAS is!
Pilot reports of an RA caused by an aircraft going Mach 1 that went through its assigned altitude.