Two Israeli Phantoms Against 28 Migs At Ofira

On Oct. 6th, 1973, the Egyptians launched their jets against Israel on the holiest

day of the Jewish Year, Yom Kippur. They began by sending seven four ship formations against the Israeli air force base Ofir on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Their goal was to disable the airfield and prevent any resistance against the flanks of the Egyptian forces mounting their attack through northern Sinai. Sadat had been promising war for several years already, swearing that he would regain territory lost in the catastrophic (for the Egyptians) 6 day 1967 war.

After a radar alert, 2 F4E Phantoms took off, seconds before the Egyptian sorties bombed the runway. One phantom went to protect the east end of the base, the other the west end. In command were two relatively inexperienced pilots, Amir Nahumi and Daniel Shaki. Immediately Nahumi shot down a MiG 17 with a sidewinder on the east side of the base, then went after some MiGs making a bombing run on a communications unit. One was shot down by Nahumi with a guided missile at about 600 meters, and the other MiG fled. Shaki meanwhile had shot down three planes and was looking for a fourth when he was attacked by MiG 21s. One of the MiGs found itself in an inferior position and dove towards the waters of the Red Sea. The Egyptian pilot dramatically bounced off the waters twice before managing to pull up and fly away.

The two Israeli pilots were able to knock out 7 MiGs before landing on a parallel runway at Ofir, almost out of fuel. They rapidly prepared for another Egyptian attack, but none appeared. They were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by a grateful Israeli nation.

The Egyptian account of this battle is interesting. Egyptian commanders claim that only 5 aircraft were lost all together on the opening day of the operation, and that no opposition was mounted against them by Israeli forces when they attacked Ras Nasrani Air Base, the Egyptian name for their former base at Ofir. The 1973 battle raged on across Sinai until Sharon mounted his cross Canal operation and the war was ultimately halted by intense ceasefire pressure from Russia and America. The Israeli air force was instrumental in defeating the Egyptian army thrusts deeper into Sinai once these forces had strayed out from under their Russian supplied SAM 3 missile protection, a grave error on the part of the Egyptians.

by: Matt Isaacson

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