146:
529:
515:, all relatively inexperienced at the time. At 9:00 AM they were issued a red alert by the controller. At 1:50 PM the sirens were sounded. Several approaching low-flying formations were spotted on radar, yet the controller did not scramble the pair, failing to realise the significance of the attack. No longer waiting for the order to scramble, Nahumi ordered the mechanics to start up the planes and took off. Shaki joined him. Nahumi later described the scene:
133:
69:
561:(930 km/h) to sea level, hit the water and bounced back up twice, before pulling up and flying away. Shaki was running out of fuel and decided to land on the damaged runway. Nahumi was then blinded by a flash of light reflecting from another pair of MiGs trying to escape. Nahumi shot one down and its partner fled to the safety of the mountains. Nahumi had also almost run out of fuel and decided not to give chase.
553:, presumably following a cannon burst. After a short period of flying on one engine he managed to restart the engine and broke away from the MiG to attack its partner's tail. The MiG turned sharply toward him. Nahumi pulled up until he was facing the MiG and shot it down as it passed by. The second MiG fled.
443:
fighter jets. The
Israeli pilots proceeded to jettison their external fuel tanks and engage all 28 MiGs in aerial combat. In just under six minutes, seven Egyptian MiGs had been shot down and the remaining Egyptian planes disengaged and returned to Egypt. The Israeli Phantoms returned to their base.
578:
According to the
Egyptians, Ras Nasrani Air Base, the former Egyptian name of Ofir, was indeed among several Israeli bases in the Sinai targeted by the Egyptian air strike on October 6, in which around 220 aircraft took part. The MiG-21 aircraft escorting the MiG-17s in the airstrike against Ras
569:
Nahumi and Shaki consulted the forward air controller and decided to land on the parallel runway, which was shorter but less damaged. Once on the ground, they began preparing their planes for another
Egyptian attack, which never materialized. The four airmen were later awarded the Distinguished
560:
at the
Phantom. The Phantom shot down that MiG with a guided missile from a distance of 600 meters. Shaki, meanwhile, had shot down three planes and was looking for the fourth, when MiG-21s attacked. One of them found itself in an inferior position and descended at a speed of 500 knots
536:
Soon after the
Israeli F-4s took off, the MiGs began bombing the runways. Nahumi ordered Shaki to dump the detachable fuel tanks and to take the west end of the base while he would take the east one. Nahumi then shot down one MiG with a
590:, reported just five aircraft losses for the entire air strike as well, as do other sources. Another source mentions the loss of seven aircraft to Israeli fighters and several others to anti-aircraft fire.
579:
Nasrani were part of the No. 25 Sqn of the EAF's 102nd Air Wing. The MiG-21s did not participate in the ground attack, and according to the pilots, no aerial opposition was ever encountered.
464:
accidentally flew over the Sinai. It was intercepted by the IAF and ordered to land but refused and was subsequently shot down. IAF high command feared this might lead to a reprisal against
673:
519:
I decided to take off, and seconds later the runway was bombed. Had we waited any longer we would have been unable to do so. There were seven four-ship formations of MiG-17s and MiG-21s.
444:
The
Egyptians dispute the Israeli account of the battle, but they never did provide their own version of what happened. One of the Egyptian pilots killed was Egyptian President
545:
battery held fire to avoid hitting the
Israeli aircraft, and two MiGs dived down to destroy it. Nahumi started to chase the leading MiG flying as low as possible and fired his
1005:
420:. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched a massive surprise attack on Israel that included over 200 Egyptian aircraft participating in an opening airstrike. The
220:
556:
Nahumi then saw another pair of MiG-17s attacking a communications unit near the bay. These were startled to encounter Nahumi and one of them fired its
586:, the Egyptian Chief of Staff, stated that total losses from October 6 up to the morning of October 7 were five aircraft. Another Egyptian commander,
995:
508:
512:
504:
1000:
957:
277:
21:
549:
Gatling gun but missed. The MiG aborted its bombing mission. Nahumi tried to chase it, but found out his left engine had suffered a
213:
990:
893:
381:
541:
missile. He turned back toward the base and crossed the path of two MiGs bombing it. These rose and flew away. The base's
366:
206:
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912:
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847:
828:
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1010:
440:
164:
461:
267:
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371:
292:
245:
287:
582:
Egyptian commanders claim that five aircraft were lost in the opening airstrike of the war altogether;
356:
346:
314:
309:
272:
329:
177:
171:
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421:
262:
255:
532:
Israeli F-4E Phantom. Flag markings on nose credit the aircraft with 3 combat kills.
472:
and back and therefore maintained fighter aircraft on quick reaction alert (QRA) at
550:
538:
341:
425:
334:
250:
98:
583:
499:, October 6, 1973, when war broke out. These were manned by four airmen: pilot
417:
386:
282:
230:
60:
439:
escorts. Not realizing the extent of the attack, Israel quickly scrambled two
984:
324:
36:
23:
481:
477:
469:
528:
476:. These aircraft were also meant to counter the threat posed to the small
542:
500:
445:
546:
496:
449:
867:
Israel's Best
Defense: The First Full Story of the Israeli Air Force
485:
68:
886:
Phoenix Over The Nile - A History of
Egyptian Air Power 1922–1994
198:
436:
432:
138:
113:
484:
batteries guarding the Red Sea straits from
Egyptian MiGs at
473:
465:
151:
102:
74:
859:
The Sky is not the Limit: The Story of The Israeli Air Force
523:
926:
No Margin for Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force
73:
Tail of an Egyptian MiG-17, one of the seven downed, at
570:
Service Medal for their performance during the battle.
488:. Base commander at the time was Ya'acov 'Yak' Nevo.
923:
982:
905:Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991
1006:Aerial operations and battles involving Israel
883:
628:
214:
732:
723:
714:
691:
629:Nicolle, David; Cooper, Tom (2004-05-25).
221:
207:
707:
705:
703:
624:
622:
620:
608:
996:Air-to-air combat operations and battles
741:
667:
665:
663:
527:
416:was one of the first air battles of the
955:
902:
869:. Airlife Publishing Ltd. p. 504.
861:(in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: Sifriyat Maariv.
524:Battle according to the Israeli account
983:
700:
671:
631:Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat
617:
599:
495:F-4E Phantoms were present at Ofir on
921:
884:Nordeen, Lon; Nicolle, David (1996).
864:
856:
837:
818:
660:
202:
1001:20th century in the Sinai Peninsula
956:Frenkel, Aviv (December 14, 2010).
930:(1st ed.). Pantheon. pp.
573:
13:
903:Pollack, Kenneth M. (2004-09-01).
228:
14:
1022:
949:
823:. Osprey Publishing. p. 96.
16:1973 battle of the Yom Kippur War
806:Nordeen and Nicolle 1996, p. 279
144:
131:
67:
821:Arab-Israeli Air Wars 1947–1982
812:
800:
787:
774:
761:
750:
462:Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114
651:
1:
991:Battles of the Yom Kippur War
865:Cohen, Eliezer (1994-03-10).
672:Welden, Asaf (October 2003).
593:
907:. Bison Books. p. 717.
888:. Smithsonian. p. 239.
819:Aloni, Shlomo (2001-02-25).
564:
7:
964:(in Hebrew). Archived from
757:Israeli Air Force Air Bases
367:Egyptian Missile Bases Raid
10:
1027:
922:Yonay, Ehud (1993-04-13).
455:
738:Cohen (1990), pp. 457–458
729:Cohen (1990), pp. 454–457
720:Cohen (1990), pp. 453–454
697:Yonay (1993), pp. 318–319
680:(in Hebrew). No. 153
480:Red Sea flotilla and the
238:
184:
157:
124:
81:
66:
58:
53:
782:The Crossing of the Suez
428:came under attack by 20
1011:South Sinai Governorate
857:Cohen, Eliezer (1990).
840:Israeli Phantom II Aces
558:air-to-surface missiles
460:In the summer of 1973,
838:Aloni, Shlomo (2004).
614:Pollack (2002), p. 125
533:
521:
288:al-Mazzah Airport Raid
795:The October War, 1973
769:The Ramadan War, 1973
588:Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy
531:
517:
468:aircraft en route to
185:Casualties and losses
37:27.91222°N 34.32972°E
958:"Air Battle Footage"
747:Cohen (1990), p. 458
193:7 aircraft shot down
605:Aloni (2001), p. 80
424:(IAF) Base Ofir at
393:International front
382:Scud missile attack
372:25th Brigade ambush
33: /
711:Aloni 2004, p. 26.
674:"Incontrovertibly"
637:. pp. 38–39.
534:
430:Egyptian Air Force
42:27.91222; 34.32972
895:978-1-56098-626-3
767:Hassan El Badri,
635:Osprey Publishing
448:'s half-brother,
422:Israeli Air Force
409:
408:
197:
196:
120:
119:
1018:
977:
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968:on July 27, 2011
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780:Saad El Shazly,
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574:Egyptian account
551:compressor stall
435:and their eight
414:Ofira Air Battle
233:
223:
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209:
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54:Ofira Air Battle
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30:
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26:
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962:Channel 10 News
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657:Gawrych, p. 81.
656:
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613:
609:
604:
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596:
576:
567:
526:
511:with navigator
503:with navigator
458:
441:F-4E Phantom II
426:Sharm el-Sheikh
410:
405:
278:Syrian GHQ Raid
251:Valley of Tears
234:
229:
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175:
145:
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105:
89:October 6, 1973
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27:
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12:
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5:
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950:External links
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972:December 15,
970:. Retrieved
966:the original
961:
925:
904:
885:
866:
858:
839:
820:
813:Bibliography
802:
794:
789:
781:
776:
768:
763:
752:
743:
734:
725:
716:
693:
682:. Retrieved
678:IAF Magazine
677:
653:
630:
610:
601:
581:
577:
568:
555:
535:
518:
509:Daniel Shaki
493:107 Squadron
490:
482:Hawk missile
478:Israeli Navy
470:South Africa
459:
413:
411:
400:Nickel Grass
399:
392:
391:
362:Abirey-Halev
357:Chinese Farm
335:
319:
298:
297:
256:
241:Syrian front
240:
125:Belligerents
59:Part of the
18:
793:El Gamasy,
543:MIM-23 Hawk
513:David Regev
505:Yossi Yavin
501:Amir Nahumi
446:Anwar Sadat
273:2nd Latakia
40: /
985:Categories
842:. Osprey.
784:p. 226–227
684:2008-11-14
594:References
539:Sidewinder
507:and pilot
497:Yom Kippur
293:3rd Hermon
268:2nd Hermon
246:1st Hermon
28:34°19′47″E
25:27°54′44″N
863:English:
565:Aftermath
315:Lahtzanit
491:Two IAF
486:Hurghada
377:Ismailia
352:Mansoura
180:aircraft
174:aircraft
167:aircraft
158:Strength
94:Location
456:Prelude
433:MiG-17s
263:Latakia
257:Model 5
116:victory
114:Israeli
938:
911:
892:
873:
846:
827:
771:p.156.
641:
437:MiG-21
342:Baltim
325:Romani
178:MiG-21
172:MiG-17
149:
139:Israel
136:
110:Result
797:p.206
466:El-Al
347:Sinai
336:Tagar
320:Ofira
152:Egypt
103:Egypt
99:Sinai
75:Ofira
974:2010
936:ISBN
909:ISBN
890:ISBN
871:ISBN
844:ISBN
825:ISBN
639:ISBN
474:Ofir
450:Atef
412:The
387:Suez
305:Badr
283:Gown
190:None
86:Date
932:426
547:M61
170:20
987::
960:.
934:.
702:^
676:.
662:^
633:.
619:^
452:.
176:8
163:2
101:,
976:.
944:.
917:.
898:.
879:.
852:.
833:.
687:.
647:.
222:e
215:t
208:v
77:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
