Operation Rimon 20

Rimon 20
Part of the War of Attrition
Date July 30, 1970 Location West of Suez Canal Result Israeli victory
Belligerents
Israel	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Mordechai Hod Iftach Spector Amos Amir	Nikolai Yurchenko †
Strength
12 Mirage IIICs 4 F-4E Phantom IIs	24 MiG-21MFs
Casualties and losses
1 aircraft damaged	4 killed 5 aircraft destroyed

Rimon 20 (Hebrew: רימון 20, Pomegranate 20) was the code name of an aerial battle in 1970 which pitted the Israeli Air Force directly against Soviet fighter pilots stationed in Egypt during the War of Attrition. Israel planned the dogfight in order to send a message that it would no longer tolerate direct Soviet military involvement in its conflict with Egypt.

In the afternoon of July 30, 1970, four Israeli Mirage IIIs crossed into Egyptian airspace, flying in tight formation so as to appear as a single aircraft. As expected, four Soviet-flown MiG-21s were scrambled to intercept what they believed to be a routine Israeli reconnaissance flight. They were soon joined by an additional eight MiGs. As the Soviet fighters closed in on the Mirages, they were ambushed by four Israeli F-4 Phantoms and eight Mirage IIIs that had been lurking undetected at low altitude. An additional 12 MiG-21 reinforcements soon arrived. By the end of the close-quarters dogfight, five Soviet MiG-21s had been downed with no Israeli losses.

Egyptian military leaders were pleased with the outcome of the battle because the Soviets had long been criticizing Egypt's aerial losses to Israel and attributing them to a lack of skill among Egyptian fighter pilots. The Soviets kept quiet about the incident so as to avoid the embarrassment of their defeat. It was one of the final engagements of the War of Attrition and is widely believed to have contributed to its conclusion.