Operation Focus and its impact on military thinking
Operation Focus (Hebrew: מבצע מוקד, Mivtza Moked) was the opening pre-emptive airstrike by Israel at the start of the Six-Day War of 1967. It is sometimes referred to as "Sinai Air Strike" since the focus was primarily on airfields around the Sinai Peninsula. At 07:45 on June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) under Maj. Gen. Mordechai Hod launched a massive airstrike that destroyed the majority of the Egyptian air force on the ground. By noon, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian Air Forces, with about 450 aircraft, were destroyed. It was also very successful in disabling 18 airfields in Egypt, hindering Egyptian Air Force operations for the duration of the war.
preperations
The Israeli government, headed by Levi Eskol, hoped to ease the tension using diplomatic methods instead of the military methods offered by the then chief of staff, Itzhak Rabin. On May 28th however, Nazer demanded that Israel hand over the port of Eilat to Egyptian control. On May 30th, King Hussein of Jordan signed a defence treaty with Egypt, effectively placing his army under Egyptian command, and on June 4rd another such treaty was signed with Iraq. With no chance of a diplomatic settlement of the dispute and having found itself threathened on three fronts, from Syria in the north, Egypt in the south and Jordan and Iraq in the East, the Israeli government finally voted to go to war. Pre-empting the oncoming Arab attack, Israel decided to launch the war itself.
The planning of operation "Moked" (Focus) had began in 1963 and from that moment on, up-to-date intelligence was routinely gathered on all Arab air forces, air bases and aircraft. The objective of the entire operation was achieving air superiority within 6 hours. Israel had concluded long before that dogfights were an inefficient way to achieve this and that enemy aircraft must be caught on the ground. The plan called for an attack on Arab airfields, first runways to prevent enemy aircraft from taking off and then repeated passes to destroy these aircraft. The scope of the operation went far beyond preparation for the various sorties, and the IAF actually underwent great changes in order to prepare itself for its successful implementation. Command and control structures were modernized, technical training of ground crews was stepped up to allow shorter times between sorties, new weapons were designed and much more. The plan itself had been completed long before the outbreak of the crisis, but with the increasing tension was quickly brought up to date with current intelligence.
Israel entered the war with 180 warplanes -The air forces of the states facing Israel far outnumbered the IAF : the Egyptian air force alone had 420 aircraft, comprising of MiG-15/17/19/21s, deHavilland Vampires and Hawker Hunters as well as Ilyushin Il-16 and Il-28 bombers. The EAF was based at 18 air bases, 4 of which were in the Sinai, 3 near the Suez canal, 6 in the Nile delta region and 5 in Upper Egypt. The Syrian air force, based in 6 airfields had a further 100 waprlanes, the Jordanian AF had 24 Hawker Hunters in two airfields and the Iraqi AF had 98 available warplanes.
Having voted to go to war, the Israeli government set June 5th, 1967, as the date for the implementation of operation "Moked", coinciding with an armoured push into the Sinai peninsula. The war was then still limited to Egypt, hoping that the other Arab countries would not become involved in the conflict.
Order of Battle of the Israeli Defence Force/Air Force, on 5 June 1967
1 Kanaf/1 Wing, Ramat David
- 107th Lion Head Sqn, Ouragan, 20 aircraft
- 109th Valley Sqn, Mystére IVA, 16 or 20 aircraft
- 110th Knights of the North Sqn, Vautour IIN/IIBR, 18 aircraft
- 117th First Jets Sqn, Mirage IIICJ, 24 aircraft (including two Mirage IIIBJ)
? Kanaf/? Wing, Tel Nov
- 12th FS, Magister, 76 aircraft
- 103rd Sqn, Noratlas, 24 transports
- 113th Wasp Sqn, Ouragans, 20 aircraft
- 116th Flying Wing Sqn, Mystére IVA, 17 or 20 aircraft
- 119th Bat Sqn, Mirage IIICJ, 21 aircraft (including two Mirage IIIRJ)
- 124th Sqn, S-58, H-34G-III, 26 helicopter
4th Kanaf/4th Wing, Hatzor
- 100th Sqn, Piper L-18,
- 101st First Sqn, Mirage IIICJ, 22 aircraft (including one Mirage IIIBJ)
- 105th Scorpion Sqn, SMB.2, 35 aircraft (including several French-owned airframes) of which 24 were serviceable
- 123rd Sqn, Bell 47, Super Frelon, 30 helicopters
- 131st Sqn, C-47, C-95, 15 transports
Note: for operational purposes, eight Mystére IVAs of the 109th Squadron were on 5 June deployed at Tel Nov AB, to operate alongside the 116th Sqn; four Vautours (including three As and one IIN) of 110th Sqn that were to fly the mission against Beni Swayf were also deployed to Tel Nov; while four Ouragans of 107th Squadron operated from Lod IAP (subsequent Ben Gurion IAP).
Totals as of 0715hrs of 5 June 1967:
- 67 Mirage IIICJ/BJ/CJ(R)
- 1 MiG-21F-13 (ex Iraqi)
- 35 Super Mystère B.2
- 19 Vautour IIA/N/BR(18 serviceable)
- 35 Mystère IVA (33 serviceable)
- 51 Ouragan (48 serviceable)
- some 15 Meteor F.Mk.8, FR.Mk.9, and T.Mk.7/8
Totals of available fighter-bombers:
- 204 "in being"
- 197 "combat-ready"
- 183 "fully manned"
the Battle begins
In three main waves of aerial attacks, and several smaller waves in the days following the operation, a total of 452 aircraft were destroyed, most of them on the ground. This left the IAF in almost complete control of the skies, and able to effectively assist the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ground units.
The operational success was achieved by concentrating on the initial destruction of the runways with a new rocket assisted bomb that would come to be known as the Durandal anti-runway warhead. As designed, after release of the bomb, a parachute is deployed to point the warhead directly toward the runway being attacked; at a set altitude, the rocket ignites and drives the warhead through the pavement of the runway before it detonates. The explosion creates a small crater over a large new sinkhole, meaning the damaged runway must be removed before the hole can be filled. Once the runways were disabled, entire air bases' complements of aircraft were effectively grounded and fell victim to subsequent attack waves, resulting in near-total Israeli air supremacy.
June 5, 1967
Operation Moked was launched at 7:45 am Israeli time (8:45 Egyptian time). Nearly all of Israel's 196 combat aircraft were committed to the airstrike, with only twelve being held back to patrol Israeli airspace.
Egyptian defensive infrastructure was extremely poor, and no airfields were yet equipped with hardened aircraft shelters capable of protecting Egypt's warplanes in the event of an attack. The Israeli warplanes headed out over the Mediterranean before turning toward Egypt. Meanwhile, the Egyptians hindered their own defense by effectively shutting down their entire air defense system: they were worried that rebel Egyptian forces would shoot down the plane carrying Field Marshal Amer and Lt-Gen. Sidqi Mahmoud, who were en route from al Maza to Bir Tamada in the Sinai to meet the commanders of the troops stationed there. In this event it did not make a great deal of difference as the Israeli pilots came in below Egyptian radar cover and well below the lowest point at which Egypt's SA-2 surface-to-air missile batteries could bring down an aircraft.
The first Israeli wave attacked 11 bases , catching much of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground and destroying them before they got airborne. The Israeli jets then returned to Israel, were "quick-turned" (refueled and armed with new ammunition) in 7 minutes 45 seconds, and departed in a second wave that attacked 14[citation needed] Egyptian bases and returned with only minor losses. They "quick-turned" again and departed in a third wave.
The opening stages of Operation Moked were a complete success: Egypt's air force of nearly 500 combat aircraft was destroyed in the space of three hours, with only minor losses to the Israeli Air Force. When Syria, Jordan, and Iraq attacked Israeli targets in retaliation for the airstrike on Egypt, their attacks were mainly directed at civilian targets and were largely ineffectual. In response many of the IAF planes headed for a third strike on Egypt were diverted en route to Syrian and Jordanian targets, and other IAF aircraft were sent against Arab ground forces in support of Israeli ground forces. By the end of the first day of the Six-day War, Israel had complete air superiority over Israel, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the entire Sinai desert
June 6-10, 1967
On the second day of the war (June 6) the IAF was used against Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, and Iraqi ground forces.
On the third day (June 7) the IAF destroyed hundreds of Egyptian vehicles trying to flee across the Sinai in convoys and trapped thousands more in narrow Sinai passes. By the end of the third day Jordan's air force of 34 combat aircraft had essentially ceased to exist and the Jordanian military was no longer in the fight.
By the sixth and final day (June 10) Syria had lost approximately 100 combat aircraft and the fighting was over.
Out come of the operation
During the Six Days War, the Israeli Air Force, with 196 combat aircraft at its disposal had prevailed over a coalition with approximately 600 combat aircraft. The IAF destroyed 452 enemy aircraft, including 79 in air combat, while losing 46 of its own. 24 Israeli pilots and an unknown number of Arab pilots were killed.
Number of aircraft destroyed by aircraft type
Combat aircraft
148 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 'Fishbeds' (104 from Egypt; 32 from Syria; 12 from Iraq)
29 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 'Farmers' (all from Egypt)
112 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 'Frescos' (94 from Egypt; 16 from Syria; two from Iraq)
14 Sukhoi Su-7 'Fitters' (all from Egypt)
27 Hawker Hunters (21 from Jordan; five from Iraq; one from Lebanon)
Bomber aircraft
31 Tupolev Tu-16 'Badgers' (30 from Egypt; one from Iraq)
31 Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagles' (27 from Egypt; two from Syria; two from Iraq)
Transport aircraft
32 Ilyushin Il-14 'Crates' (30 from Egypt; two from Syria)
8 Antonov An-12 'Cubs' (all from Egypt)
4 others (two Syrian C-27 medium transports; and two C-27's from Egypt)
Transport helicopters
10 Mil Mi-6 'Hooks' (eight from Egypt; two from Syria)
6 Mil Mi-4 'Hounds' (two from Egypt; four from Syria)
Number of aircraft destroyed by country
Egypt: 338 aircraft
Syria: 61 aircraft
Jordan: 29 aircraft
Iraq: 23 aircraft
Lebanon: 1 aircraft
Israel lost 19 aircraft in the operation.
Impact of the Operation
the operation is still studied in grate depth in military collages around world due to the tanacity and its operational soundness the most important impact is that it has been emulated in varying degrees one of the most daring copY was done by the PAF Code named Operation Chengiz Khan
Links used
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Focus
the pre-emptive strike that launched the six-days war
Operation Moked: Destruction of Arab Air Forces