Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE PERSIAN GULF
of the numerically superior Arab air forces on the ground, permitting
Israeli armor and close air support (CAS) aircraft to decisively
crush the numerically superior Arab ground forces. On
that first day, the IAF destroyed 85 percent of the Egyptian air
force and 410 Arab aircraft in exchange for 19 aircraft lost (all
but two or three to ground fire). This short, sharp war cost the
Israelis 40 to 50 aircraft (all but three to 12 to ground fire).
In contrast, the Arab air forces lost about 450 aircraft, mostly
on the ground, with 60 to 79 to Israeli aircraft and about 50
to Israeli ground-based air defenses. 2
Although the Egyptians had 18 to 25 batteries of SA-2s,
these SAMs had no direct effect on the battle. Their operators
fired perhaps a dozen missiles but claimed only one possible
hit. While the unclassified sources do not mention a breakdown
of Israeli credits for their surface-based air defense systems,
apparently an Israeli Hawk downed an IAF A-4 on 5 June.
The damaged fighter bomber apparently penetrated a restricted
area around an Israeli nuclear facility. 3
The Israelis gained a phenomenal military victory and new
territories in the 1967 war, but they did not win peace. Soviet
resupply of Arab clients led to a drawn-out land and air war of
attrition along the Suez Canal, the new border between Egypt
and Israel. Between July 1967 and January 1970, the IAF lost
15 aircraft (13 to ground fire), while it claimed 74 Egyptian and
Syrian aircraft. In September–October 1969, the IAF took out
the Egyptian SAMs along the canal. In January 1970, the Israelis
received US ECM pods and, within three months, neutralized
the Egyptian air defense system by destroying three-fourths of
its early warning radar. The offensive was again triumphant.
The Soviets countered in early 1970 by sending more missiles,
including the SA-3, to Egypt. Although the SA-3’s range was
about one-third to one-half that of the SA-2 (slant range of 13–17
miles compared to the SA-2’s slant range of 25–30 miles), the
former could operate against lower-flying aircraft. The missiles
became operational in April 1970, and by the end of June, the
Egyptians had 55 SAM batteries. Soviet technicians and operators
bolstered the Egyptian air defenses, which, in essence, they
took over. The air war heated up in late June when SAMs
downed three IAF aircraft in one week. In response, the IAF
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