Figure 1.--Here we see an Isreali pilot with his young son sometine before the Six Days War. We think he may be Ezer Weizman who as commander of the Israeli Air Force planned Operation Focus. Just before the War, Weizman was promoted to be the IDF's Deputy Chief of Staff. Focus was actually executed by his replacement Mordechai (Motti) Hod. The objective was to catch the Soviet supplied Egyptian air force on the ground.

Operation Focus is the most successful air campaign in history. The Luftwaffe devastated the Soviet Red Air Force (1941) and the Japanese destroyed naval and air force at Pearl Harbor, but the Germans and Japanese lost both wars. Focus saved Israel and led to the overwhelming victory of the Six Days War. Egypt especially the powerful Egyptian Air Force was a mortal threat to Israel. On paper, it was the strongest air force in the Middle East. The Soviets had provided the Egypt a huge force of top-of the-line modern aircraft with capabilities comparable if not exceeding that of the Israeli Air Force. (At the time the United States and the Europeans were refusing to sell aircraft to Israel. Egypt purchased purchased the Soviet planes on credit. We don't believe that the Soviets ever got paid. Minister of Defense Mosche Dyan authorized the airstrike that the IDF had been preparing for some time. The author of the plan was Air Force Commander Ezer Weizman. Just before the War, Weizman was promoted to be the IDF's Deputy Chief of Staff. Focus was actually executed by his replacement Mordechai (Motti) Hod. The objective was to catch the Egyptian Soviet supplies air force on the ground--Operation Focus. The audacious Israeli air attack succeeded in destroying the Egyptian Air force on the ground. Virtually the entire Israeli Air Force (IAF) of 1,800 planes was committed to the daring attack--Operation Focus . They flew in under the Egyptian radar. Observation of Egyptian air operations noted that most pilots had a coffee break after morning patrols. This was when the Israelis struck and found virtually the entire Egyptian Air Force on the ground with little or no defensive precautions such a protective revetments. The Israeli pilots struck with amazing precession. The IAF pummeled Egyptian airfields. Egypt's airfields were a primary target as Egypt had the most potent air force. The IAF would also hit airfields in Syria and Jordan, but only after those two countries attacked Israel. An Iraqi airfield on the Jordanian border wold also be hit after an Iraqi attack. The IAF was primarily concerned with crippling the Egyptian airfields in the Nile Delta. Aircraft there were equipped with long-range missile systems, capable of striking civilian targets in Israel. Only 20 Israeli planes were lost, mostly by Soviet supplied anti-aircraft missiles. IAF fighter jets also made sure any existing runways were demolished, so as to paralyze the remaining enemy warplanes. Bombing runways meant that the Egyptian planes not immediately destroyed could not take off. Eventually 400 Arab aircraft were destroyed on the ground. The IAD assaults on Egypt were completed within a few hours. The IDF was thus free to focus on Arab ground forces and play a ground support role. This would be a major factor in the ensuing ground campaign. The IAF began hitting Arab troop dispositions and attempts to enforce and supply those positions. More Arab airfields were hit on the second day of fighting. By the end of the war, the IAF had destroyed 451 Arab aircraft, losing only 46 planes of their own, and this despite the fact the Arabs had modern Soviet aircraft and airfields protected by Soviet radar and anti-aircraft missile systems. The success of Operation Focus prevented Arab air attacks on Israeli cities and IDF troop movements. The IDF had command of the air as the war unfolded. Egyptian Air Force commanders were at first afraid to tell Nasser what had happened. Radio Cairo as a result announced that it was the Israeli Air Force had been destroyed. The Arab public was ecstatic. The Israeli press releases reports were at first discounted as exaggerated propaganda by the Western Press. In fact they proved accurate.

Created: 1:37 AM 10/10/2024
Last update: 37 AM 10/10/2024