Operation Mole Cricket 19

Operation Mole Cricket 19
Part of the 1982 Lebanon War

Part of a Syrian SA-6 site built near the Beirut-Damascus highway, and overlooking the Beqaa Valley, in early 1982.
DateJune 9, 1982
Location
Beqaa Valley, Lebanon
Result Decisive Israeli victory
Belligerents
Israel Israel (IAF) Syria Syria (SAAF)
Commanders and leaders
Israel David Ivry
Israel Ariel Sharon		 Syria Mustafa Tlass
Syria Hafez Al-Assad
Strength
90 aircraft (mostly F-15s and F-16s)[1]
1 remotely piloted vehicle squadron[2]
UAVs		 100 aircraft (mostly ground attack MiG-21 and MiG-23, some MiG-23M air-to-air fighters)[1]
30 SAM batteries[3]
Casualties and losses
2 F-15 damaged[4]
At least 1 UAV shot down[5]		 82–86 planes shot down
29 SAM batteries destroyed

Operation Mole Cricket 19 (Hebrew: מבצע ערצב-19, romanized: Mivtza ʻArtzav Tsha-Esreh) was a suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) campaign launched by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) against Syrian targets on June 9, 1982, at the outset of the 1982 Lebanon War. The operation was the first time in history that a Western-equipped air force successfully destroyed a Soviet-built surface-to-air missile (SAM) network.[3] It also became one of the biggest air battles since World War II,[6] and the biggest since the Korean War.[7] The result was a decisive Israeli victory, leading to the colloquial name the "Bekaa Valley Turkey Shoot".

The IAF began working on a SAM suppression operation at the end of the Yom Kippur War. Rising tensions between Israel and Syria over Lebanon escalated in the early 1980s and culminated in Syria deploying SAM batteries in the Beqaa Valley. On June 6, 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, and on the third day of the war, with clashes ongoing between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Syrian Army, Israel decided to launch the operation.

The battle lasted about two hours, and involved innovative tactics and technology. By the end of the day, the IAF had destroyed 29 of 30 SAM batteries deployed in the Beqaa Valley, and shot down 82–86 enemy aircraft, with minimal losses of its own. The battle led the United States to impose a ceasefire on Israel and Syria.

  1. ^ a b "Air Combat Past, Present and Future". Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  2. ^ Grant, Rebecca. "The Bekaa Valley War". Air Force Magazine Online. 85 (June 2002). Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference morris528 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Aloni, Shlomo. Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat, 2006, p. 51.
  5. ^ " לבטאון חיל-האוויר הישראלי" (Journal of the Israeli Air Force), July 1984, №141, p. 12.
  6. ^ Nordeen (1990), p. 175
  7. ^ Cohen (1990), p. 615