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| quote: | Originally posted by hardcore trancer
Are you another coward from IDF? |
coward lol
in a while we will bomb iran too.. dont worry..
let me take u back in time
Operation Opera:
The attack
Operation Opera was carefully planned for a Sunday to minimise the loss of lives of any foreign workers and the late-afternoon attack was designed so as to provide the Israeli Combat Search and Rescue Team (CSAR), all night to search for any downed Israeli pilots.
An Israeli Air Force squadron of 8 F-16As was outfitted, each with two unguided Mark-84 2000-pound time-delay fused heavy bombs, and external fuel tanks. A squadron of 6 F-15As was also assigned to the operation to provide fighter support for the F-16As.
On June 7, 1981 at 15:55 local time (12:55 GMT), the plan was set in motion. The task force left Etzion Air Force base in the Negev (at the time Israel's closest air base to Iraq), flying low (240m/750 feet) unchallenged over Jordanian and Saudi airspace.
1,000km (600 miles) into their flight, the operation was complicated by the F-16As external fuel tanks. The planes were so heavily loaded that the external tanks were exhausted while the task force was still en route to the Osirak facility. These tanks were designed to be jettisoned, but not to be jettisoned while the plane was still loaded with the Mark-84 bombs; there was a possibility that the tanks could become entangled in the weapon mounts once released. Fortunately, for the Israeli pilots, this did not occur, and the squadron of F-16As managed to safely jettison their empty external tanks over the Saudi desert.
Upon reaching Iraqi airspace, the squadron split up, with two of the F-15s forming close escort to the F-16 squardron, and the remaining F-15s dispersing into Iraqi airspace as a diversion and ready back-up.
The attack squadron decended to 30m (100 ft) over the Iraqi desert, attempting to fly under the radar of the Iraqi defenses.
At 18:35 local time (17:35 Israeli time/14:35 GMT), 20km from the Osirak reactor complex, the F-16 formation climbed to 7,000 feet (2,100m) and went into a 35-degree dive at 600 knots, aimed at the reactor complex. At 3,500 feet (1,067m), the F-16s began releasing the Mark-84s in pairs, at 5-second intervals. According to the Israeli reports, all sixteen weapons struck the reactor complex, although two apparently did not detonate. As the anti-aircraft defenses opened fire, the squadron climbed to an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,200m) and headed for home. According to Israeli reports, the Iraqi defenses were caught off guard, and were slow to react. In any case, the anti-aircraft defenses of the facility did not manage to damage any of the attacking squadron.
Despite the fears of encountering Iraqi interceptors, the squadron remained unchallenged, and returned to Israeli airspace by the route they had followed to Osirak.
The results
The reactor complex was heavily damaged, according to plan. Eleven men — ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian researcher — were killed in the attack. Israel claimed that these casualties were mostly due to stray anti-aircraft fire from the Iraqi defenses, and not from the bombardment itself.
None of the Israeli task force's planes were damaged by Iraqi defenses. Although almost out of fuel, all fourteen jets returned to Israeli territory and landed safely.
Last edited by Dj Alex (ISR) on Jul-06-2006 at 09:53
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