Operation Rimon 20

Romanian MiG-21MFs, the Soviet aircraft type deployed to Egypt.

Egypt had launched the War of Attrition in the hope of wearing down Israel's hold on territories captured during the 1967 Six-Day War. By the start of 1970, however, the Israeli Air Force had established complete aerial superiority over the front lines along the Suez Canal, and the launching of Operation Priha in January laid bare Egypt's inability to counter Israeli supremacy not only along the canal but in the Egyptian heartland as well. President Nasser of Egypt therefore turned to the Soviet Union for assistance. Nasser visited Moscow on January 24–25, 1970, and persuaded his hosts to expand Soviet assistance.[1] An entire division of the Soviet Air Defence Forces (Voyska PVO), the 18th Special Anti-Aircraft Rocket Division, including the MiG-21MF-equipped 135th Fighter Aviation Regiment[2] and the latest versions of the SA-2 and SA-3 SAM batteries, therefore deployed to Egypt. These were initially tasked with the defence of Cairo, Alexandria and the Aswan Dam alone, freeing Egyptian air defence assets to engage the IAF over the canal zone.[3] Their presence and active participation in the defence of Egypt was not made public and denied long afterwards, yet picked up by Israeli intelligence not long after their arrival.[4][5]

The Israeli government, fearful of confronting a superpower and the possible consequences, directed the IAF to keep its distance from the Soviet forces. Operation Priha was soon curtailed, and as the Soviets made their presence felt, terminated outright. By the end of April 1970 Israeli aircraft were no longer flying into Egypt, in the hope that this would satisfy the Soviets.[6][7] The Soviets and Egyptians, however, now began rolling their combined air defence array towards the canal zone, threatening to deprive Israel of its aerial superiority. The Israeli air force targeted both the Egyptian SAM batteries and ancillary infrastructure, but by the end of June two F-4 Phantoms had fallen to SAMs and two more in July. Moreover, Soviet fighters were also expanding their sphere of operations and it was becoming apparent that the Soviets, bolstered by their success, were actively seeking an engagement.[6] On July 25 Soviet MiG-21s intercepted Israeli A-4 Skyhawks on a ground attack mission and chased them into Israeli-controlled Sinai. One Skyhawk was hit by an AA-2 Atoll missile and forced to land at Rephidim.[8]

Both Israeli government and air force had by now realised that the policy of restraint versus the Soviets had failed. For the first time, Israel's hard-won aerial supremacy was under serious threat, not only on the west bank of the Suez Canal, but over Israeli-controlled territory as well. The Israeli Air Force therefore proposed to take the Soviets head-on, hoping to demonstrate that although it possessed no operational answer to the extensive air defence array forming on the west bank of the Suez Canal,[9] it was nevertheless superior in the air. The opportunity to punish the Soviets would also serve to boost flagging morale following the loss of several aircraft and airmen in the previous few months,[4] and would also prove valuable in upcoming ceasefire negotiations.[10][11] IAF Chief of Staff Mordechai (Motti) Hod, backed by IDF Chief of the General Staff Haim Bar-Lev, took his case to the Israeli cabinet on July 25.[12] Once the approval of Golda Meir's government had been received, the IAF then set about organizing a planned team ambush.[6] Such ambushes had been carried out before, under the code name "Rimon" (Pomegranate), and an existing plan was now brought up to date and designated "Rimon 20".[13] Initially planned for July 29, it was later pushed back to July 30.[10][14]

While the Phantoms maintained mutually protective pairs, the less disciplined Mirage pilots broke apart to individually engage their opponents. Avraham Salmon and Avi Gilad separated as the battle began and Salmon was soon the first to score a kill. Spotting two MiGs on the tail of a pair of Phantoms, he warned his comrades of the approaching danger before leveling off behind the rear MiG and launching an AIM-9D. The MiG exploded, killing pilot Nikolai Yurchenko.[22]

Asher Snir had also separated from his wingman to chase MiGs. Finding himself in the midst of a number of MiGs and Phantoms, he opted to chase one of the Soviet fighters. As the MiG was pulling away from the Mirage, Snir let off an AIM-9D which struck the MiG-21's underbelly.[23] Captain Yevgeny Yakovlev managed to bail out of the stricken aircraft, yet died in the descent. Aviem Sella witnessed the downing:[5]

One of the Mirages (flown by Asher Snir) fired an air-to-air missile seconds after the battle began. The missile hit a MiG and set it on fire. The pilot bailed out; the aircraft went into a spin and dropped like a stone from 30,000 ft [9,100 m]. The Russian pilot's parachute opened right away – it's not supposed to: chutes are designed to open automatically at 10,000 ft. [3,000 m], so their wearers don't freeze or suffocate at high altitudes.

Snir, however, in the heat of pursuit and without the protection of a wingman, had failed to spot a MiG-21 closing in on his tail. Captain Vladimir Ivlev fired an AA-2 Atoll at the Mirage, which exploded in the exhaust of the Atar engine, shredding the nozzle and tail of Snir's aircraft. Snir disengaged and managed to nurse his damaged aircraft to a safe landing in Rephidim.[8][24] Ivlev, short on fuel, let off an unsuccessful cannon burst at one of the Phantoms before heading back to al-Qatamiyah.[23]

With the battle underway, Israeli reinforcements were ordered into the fight. The four 117 Squadron Mirages which had been lurking at low altitude over the Sinai, beyond the reach of Egyptian and Soviet radar, were pulling up and proceeding westward when Itamar Neuner's jet suffered an engine malfunction and had to abort the mission. Wary of leaving Neuner alone in hostile territory, Even-Nir escorted his wingman back to Rephidim. A 101 Squadron pair, Iftach Spector and Michael Tzuk, were scrambled to replace them.[8] Spector, however, soon lost sight of Tzuk and ordered him to return to base, proceeding into the battle by himself.[25] The remaining 117 pair, Koren and Richter, were also about to engage the Soviet fighters.

Israeli Air Force 69 Squadron F-4E Phantom II.

The Phantoms crews, meanwhile, were finding out that flying in pairs was indeed safer, yet not as conducive towards scoring aerial kills since it limited individual pilot freedom of action. Their Soviet adversaries did not seem skilled enough to pose a serious threat and Bin-Nun and Sella decided to part ways and go after their own quarries.[26] Sella set his sights on one of the MiGs yet failed to get into position to fire his missiles. When the MiG performed a tight turn and came face to face with the Phantom, Sella himself performed a tight Immelman turn which placed him above and behind the MiG:[5]

By this time I'd realized the Russian pilot was inexperienced; he didn't know how to handle his aircraft in a combat situation. At 15,000 ft [4,600 m] he proved this fact by trying to escape in a steep dive to 700 ft [210 m]. All we had to do was follow him and lock our radar onto him – and fire a missile. There was a tremendous explosion – but the MiG came out of the cloud of smoke apparently unharmed. That made me mad and I fired a second missile – which turned out to be unnecessary. The Russian aircraft had, in fact, been severely damaged by the first missile; suddenly, it burst into flames and fell apart. By the time the second missile reached it, it wasn't there any more.

Sella's AIM-9 had downed Captain Georgy Syrkin, who successfully bailed out of his aircraft.[26]

Two minutes had passed by now and both Mirages and MiG-21s were low on fuel and starting to depart the combat zone. Avihu Bin-Nun spotted one such MiG flying at 1,000–2,000 feet (300–610 m) with 117 Squadron's Koren and Richter on his tail. Richter had launched a Shafrir 2 missile at the MiG, yet the distance was too great and the missile fell harmlessly to the ground. Koren also attempted a missile launch, only to discover that he had jettisoned his missiles along with his fuel tanks when he entered the battle. Koren was closing into cannon range when an AIM-7 Sparrow passed him by. It struck its target, disintegrating it to bits and killing pilot Kamenev.[27] The missile had been launched by Avihu Bin-Nun and Shaul Levi:[4]

Suddenly we found ourselves, me and my number 2, along with a lone 117 Squadron jet, pursuing a MiG flying at low level and almost at the speed of sound. As we saw it, the biggest threat was that the 117 pilot would claim our MiG. We launched a "Sparrow", though one shouldn't at that altitude and in those conditions. Just so that 117 wouldn't get him.

Another MiG-21 trying to make its way away from the battle zone was being chased by Avraham Salmon. Having spotted Salmon on his tail, Vladimir Zhuravlev was maneuvering hard to deny Salmon the opportunity to shoot him down. Salmon had already fired a missile that failed to cause any damage, when Spector's 101 Squadron Mirage joined the fight and fired another pair at the MiG. Although at least one struck home, these too failed to bring the aircraft down, and it continued to fly away to the northwest. Salmon continued to give chase to the vicinity of Helwan, where he managed to close the distance to the MiG and emptied his cannon into the aircraft. With both his ammunition and fuel exhausted, he departed the scene. Only years later (see below) was it revealed that Zhuravlev's aircraft had in fact crashed and its pilot killed. Spector and Salmon were both credited with a shared kill, the fifth and last of the battle.[28]

The engagement had lasted a little less than three minutes. As the Soviets could yet scramble more aircraft to the scene, Motti Hod gave the order for all remaining aircraft to disengage and withdraw. While the Mirages headed to Rephidim to refuel prior to their return to their home bases in Israel proper, the 69 Squadron Phantoms made their way directly to Ramat David.[29]

• Adamsky, Dima (2006). Operation Kavkaz – Soviet Intervention and Israeli Intelligence Failure in the War of Attrition (in Hebrew). ISBN 978-965-05-1363-4.
• Aloni, Shlomo (2001). Arab-Israeli Air Wars. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-294-4.
• Aloni, Shlomo (2004). Israeli Mirage and Nesher Aces. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-653-9.
• Aloni, Shlomo (2004). Israeli Phantom II Aces. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-783-3.
• Nordeen, Lon; Nicolle, David (1996). Phoenix Over The Nile – A History of Egyptian Air Power 1922–1994. Smithsonian. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-56098-626-3.
• Nicolle, David; Cooper, Tom (2004). Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-1-84176-655-3.
• Norton, Bill (2004). Air War on the Edge – A History of the Israel Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947. Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-088-3.
• O'Neill, Mark A. (1998), "Air Combat on the Periphery: The Soviet Air Force in Action during the Cold War, 1945–89", in Higham, Robin D. S.; Greenwood, John T.; Hardesty Von (eds.), Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century, Routledge, pp. 208–235, ISBN 9780714647845
• Shalom, Danny (2007). Phantoms over Cairo – Israeli Air Force in the War of Attrition (1967–1970) (in Hebrew). Bavir Aviation & Space Publications. pp. 1015–1073. ISBN 978-965-90455-2-5.