June 7th Operation Opera

OPERATION OPERA – Unexpected Strike on a Guarded Expected Site.

36 years ago on this very day June 7^th 1981 (Sunday) in an evening time an unexpected surprise event happened, which stunned the WHOLE world   and that very event became the benchmark for the future.

So what was so special that happened on that day?

Why was it so significant and what was the need?

The answer for the above question lies deep in the Middle East. 8 F16’s Fighter Bombers of Israeli Air force took off from Etzion Air Base (TABA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, EGYPT) in Sinai Desert (Then part of Israel occupied Sinai) to bomb the Nuclear reactor just outside Baghdad in Iraq. The reason for the attack was seen as to restore balance in Middle East so as to make sure no country in the region possess Weapon of mass destruction which may potentially be a threat to the existence of the state of Israel.

What was the need to Attack the nuclear reactor?

There are several ways to deny the project through other means too so why resort to attack?

Was there any coalition involved in the Attack?

Did Israel think about the ramification of the Attack?

Did Iraq really have the necessity of the Reactor?

What impact the Attack had on the other Gulf Countries?

So let us go in detail to know the answers for above questions.

Saddam Hussain search for Weapons

With Egypt and Syria slipping down the curve post the defeat in six day war and virtually no Tall leaders to Challenge the Jewish state, Saddam saw an opportunity for Iraq and himself to establish an iron control regime in the Middle East region. After becoming vice chairman of Baath Regime he focused on nationalizing the Oil assets thereby increasing the revenue of the same. 1973 Oil Embargo to oppose US help to Israel aided Saddam to restructure the economy better.  In 1975 Saddam went shopping to France in order to purchase Military Hardware and ammunitions required and Then Prime minister of France Jacques Chirac opened the inventory for the Iraq forces thereby supplying Mirage F1 jets, Exocet, Milan, HOT, Magic, Martel, Armat missiles, Alouette III, Gazelle, Super-Puma helicopters, AMX 30-GCT howitzers, Tiger-G radar and many more. This wasn’t enough for Saddam as he still wanted a Nuclear reactor so he again went shopping to soviet but the Soviet government insisted on a safeguard which means Saddam cannot reprocess the spent fuel. On the other hand French who were depending on Iraq Oil imports were ready to build two experimental Nuclear reactors of OSIRAK class to Iraq and also train Iraqi engineers on the technology. Since France didn’t sign NPT in 1970, the sale of reactor was not affected.  But it didn’t end there, Further France and West armed Saddam with Dual use Chemical compounds for usage. Did it end there again? No, even though Iraq weaponry was more than 90% comprised of Russian make, still Saddam was sending a message to Russia to avoid any sabotage of his regime. It was in 1978 the entire scheme of things changed when Iran Revolution took place and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Became the Supreme leader of Iran, thereby bringing in hostility with USA. With the start of IRAN-IRAQ war and suppression of Communism in Iran and Overthrowing of Shah of Iran bought USA and Russia in support of Iraq against Iran and thereby bringing Weapon shower to Iraq. But one country which was away from Glare of all these issues was Israel who was looking at every single deal that Saddam got from West.

TAMMUZ – Osirak Class Nuclear Reactor

Though Saddam wanted a bigger reactor what he got was a 40 Megawatt Research Reactor from France. Along with Osirak Reactor Iraq got another smaller reactor of ISIS class with 73 Kilograms of Enriched Uranium and training technicians. The construction began in 1979 Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Center near Baghdad and the reactor was named after the Babylonian Month TAMMUZ. Incidentally it was in the Month of TAMMUZ Emperor Nebuchadnezzar launched assault on the Jerusalem and Baath Party took over the power in IRAQ. Dr Yahya El Mashad an Egyptian Nuclear scientist joined Iraq nuclear program and he was key in Iraq France nuclear Agreement. In July 1980, Iraq received a shipment of 12 kilograms of enriched uranium fuel to be used. The shipment was the first of the six deliveries of 72 kilograms but at any moment of time not more than 2 shipments accounting to 24 kilograms will be available with Iraq.

Israeli Reaction of Reactor Sale

Iraq was always in a state of war with Israel since 1948 and they were never in good relationship. With new Baathist party in chair of Iraq in 1968, the sole aim was to become the main power center of the region. With Nationalizing of the natural resources and Oil economy, Iraq enjoyed a reforming economy. When Saddam armed with millions of cash and surplus of oil went shopping for nuclear reactor, he argued it is mainly for Electricity and peaceful research purpose. USA and west were contended with the argument and not much attention was paid to it but Israel was skeptical about the nuclear reactor shopping as they considered IRAQ an oil and resource rich nation doesn’t need a nuclear reactor that too an miniature one for electricity needs and hence Israel tried to scuttle the sale through diplomatic means. The reason which Israel discovered is that Al Usbu al-Arabi – Apparently to a Lebanese magazine Saddam had told that this reactor would be the first step for ARAB world Atomic Bomb and this statement was clearly seen as a threat to Israel and it further fueled Israel’s need for the reactor to be stalled on all costs. This prompted the defense minister of Israel Moshe Dayan to initiate a series of diplomatic, covert and overt maneuvers to stall the reactor and they hoped that there won’t be any need for military operations to deny Iraq and nuclear reactor.

Israel’s Efforts to Stall Reactor

With the Nuclear deal signed and France expected to fulfill the contract, Israel’s Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin insisted then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan to open up the diplomatic back end moves to stall the Reactor sale. Post the Cherbourg affair and Operation Bayoneta, French Israel relations remained sour. Despite all these issues, Mossad was easily able to infiltrate across Italian and French government and tried to scuttle all possible efforts to minimum basic of delaying the reactor. Meanwhile Mossad was also tracking all possible scientists who were working with Iraq and France involved and trying to make them defect or quit the project. With all the Diplomatic efforts failing the New Prime Minister Menachim Begin turned to the aggressive strategy to destroy or delay the reactor. In April 1979 the core of the reactor which was ready to be shipped to Iraq was bombed by Mossad and the bombing was unsuccessful as the damage was very limited and France patched it up. But after the bombing France informed Iraq that French technicians would supervise the works for ten years in Iraq. Further Mossad used all the methods to make the companies involved in the manufacturing of the parts to back off from the project or to stall but it didn’t fructify. On 14^th June 1980 Yahya El Mashad who was heading the nuclear program of Iraq was allegedly assassinated by Mossad in Le Meridian Hotel in Paris. It was also suspected that many other scientist and technicians were also assassinated and blame fell on Mossad though there was no evidence. At last it was conveyed that Mossad has utilized its resources but the project was going further without any issues. At this time it was decided that the reactor needs to be attacked in Iraq either through Air or through manned mission on ground thereby introducing the Begin Doctrine.

All of a Sudden Event – Iran Revolution and Iran-Iraq War

While Israel had its apprehension and discord on the Arab world one side, there seem to be a creation of new power center struggle that started in the Arab World. The Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Abdicated the throne thereby Monarchy was abolished in Iran. With new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in command, Power struggle in Arab level increased. As per the Iran Fundamentalist Monarchy was against the Islamic Rule and thereby Iran was seen as a trouble for Other Arab World which practiced Monarchy. With Purge on Americans due to Hostage Crisis in Iran and Ban on Communism, there was an increased hostility with Both USA and Russia.  But it didn’t end there, Iran – Iraq Algiers Treaty was violated by Iraq and Iraq invaded Iran in Khorramshahr, Shatt Al Arab in Khuzestan Region on September 22^nd 1980. This conflict was seen as blessing in disguise for Israel as Entire of the World concentration was on the Iran-Iraq Conflict. In the next part we will deal with specific incidents that led to change in Equation for the Israeli’s to attack Iraq.

Preparation for Assault from Israel

On September 30^th 1980, Iran sensing the Nuclear reactor a threat attacked it with 4 F4-E Phantom Aircrafts though the attack was successful the attack didn’t damage the reactor but damaged the training facilities. Gen David Ivry then Commander of Israeli Defense forces was summoned and asked to prepare an assault plan to take down the reactor. At that time Israel had F15-A jets which didn’t fall into the range in order to attack Baghdad. Other Option that Gen. Ivry contemplated was one similar to Operation Eagle Claw by USA in Iran which was botched up due to bad planning. During this time it was informed that Shah of Iran had ordered Top of the line 60 F16’s for Iran and due to the change in government in Iran which was seen as Hostile regime to USA, the F 16’s were delivered to Israel which actually changed the equation. Now Gen. Ivry decided to use F16’s to use it as the attack aircraft but even before using it the Aircraft was to be scaled down and modified suiting the requirements of the mission which included several never before tried and tested methods. 8 Pilots from Israel air force were selected and sent to UTAH for specialized training in F16’s and Air to Ground missions. The Selected Pilots were not told about the mission that will happen in due course or anything about the Plans that is being hatched. Post the return of the Pilots from USA, they were told to practice Air to Ground mission in Israel. Meanwhile French media claimed that in October 1980 the construction of the reactor has been completed and the Fuelling of reactor could be completed by June 1981. Following this Israeli cabinet moved for a resolution in favor of attack and got 10-6 votes in favor of attack. Israel further accessed the US Spy satellite KH KEENAN to view the progress and to Israel’s relief it was told the reactor will go online only by end of 1981.

In November 1980 Irainian F 4- Phantom Jets on a reconnaissance mission photographed the nuclear facility and it was clandestinely passed on to Israel further to Gen. David Ivry. The chosen 8 pilots were briefed about the presence of the nuclear facility in the Iraq and the plan to take it down. On April 4^th 1981 during the IRAN-IRAQ war, 8 F-4 Phantoms of Iranian Air Force attacked the Iraqi Air base H3 near Jordan-Iraq border in a surprise attack which destroyed more than 30 Aircrafts without any loss to Iran. This attack crippled the Iraq air force as its loss included Mig 21, 23, Su 20 and several Tu 22 bombers. Post this attack the F16’s were modified for the attack and the route were designed. Once all preliminary preparations were done Gen David Ivry was called in by Prime Minister Menachim Begin and informed that the attack will take place on June 7^th 1981.

Route, Specifications of F16’s and Attack

F16-A used for Attack:

3 Drop Tanks to carry Fuel, 2 – 2 ton Mark 84 Bomb on each wing and no countermeasures.

Tammuz Reactor: Guarded by SA 6 and Roland SAM’s with Anti Aircraft Artillery.

Route:

From Etzion Air base the Fighters will violate the Jordanian Air space through Gulf of Aqaba after which the Fighters will pass through Saudi Arabian Air space and enter Iraqi Air space. Once they enter Iraqi Air space, the Fighters will move in 2 groups outside Baghdad near Euphrates River from where the fighters will start the Bombing runs. Once the bombing is over the fighters will return in the same path. 8 F15-A’s will be available to give close air support in Iraqi Air space in case of counter attack.

F16’s Squadron formed and the Pilots enlisted were;

Col. Zeev Raz; Major Amos Yadlin; Capt. Idlan Ramon; Capt. Ralik Shefir

Col. Amir Nachumi; Major iftach Spector; Capt. Dobbi Yaffe; Capt hagai katz.

All the Pilots chosen were quarantined and were not allowed to leak the news about the raid on the reactor to anyone. On the 6^th June 1981, Saturday all Pilots were asked to report in to Etzion base and were allowed to be in peace in order to contemplate on what lies ahead. Here Capt idlan Ramon (who was the First Astronaut from Israel, also the one perished in Columbia space ship tragedy) and Capt Relik Shafir were in to conclusion that they are unlikely to return back. Col. Amir Nachumi was overwhelmed and he informed Gen. david Ivry that whatever happens the squadron will make sure the mission is success. Every Pilot part of this mission considered the mission equivalent to saving the country.

On June 7^th 1981 on a Sunday Afternoon everyone were ready to scramble and to make sure maximum fuel is carried, Fuel Tankers were bought to the runaway and hot refueling was done. At 3:55 PM Tel Aviv Time the mission was underway and Green Light was given to start off. Col Zeev Raaz was the Lead pilot and followed by other 7. All pilots were separated by 4 seconds each in pairs. All planes struggled to gain speed due to the massive weight and they all got airborne will little runway left. Once they were airborne soon they were in gulf of Aqaba and thereby all F16’s descended to unthinkable altitude of 100 Ft from ground on slower speed to avoid radar contact and conserve fuel. When they reached Gulf, disaster strikes, they fly above King Hussain of Jordan’s yatch who was in vacation. The moment King Hussain saw the insignia on the plane (STAR OF DAVID) and the direction; he confirmed that the likely target is the Saddam’s pride the Nuclear Reactor. King right away called the captain of the ship and asked him to contact the command center in Amman to warn Iraq about the impending attack. For some reason the message didn’t reach Amman and King Hussain didn’t confirm the reception of the message. Unaware of the impending danger the pilots were proceeding on the course. There was complete radio silence as to make sure there is no interception of the messages. Soon the pilots exited Jordanian Air space and entered the Saudi Arabian Air space. The terrain changed and the challenges also changed as the conditions were not simulated also Saudi Arabian Air force had AWAECS plane that they received from USA so evading them is also a key issue which was not practiced. The pilots continued at 100 ft and in this desert they execute the never tried most dangerous maneuver of dropping the fuel tanks. The fuel tanks are not allowed to be dropped unless the bombs are dropped as it may damage the wings but here the risk had to be taken and all 8 pilots successfully do so. Soon after traveling considerable distance in Saudi, the pilots enter the Iraqi Air Space. The Blind spot in the Iraq- Saudi border was well known to Iraqi’s but since they didn’t except any clash from Saudi the south western border was not well fortified and with H3 base destroyed Iraqi’s were well concentrating on Eastern borders. Still flying at 100 feet the F15 escorts were asked to divert across Iraq as part of Diversion and 8 F16’s were proceeding towards the designated Euphrates landmark.

The attack time and date was considered after many calculations as Israel chose Sunday in order to avoid any French Technicians at reactor and the evening time was chosen in order to strike during the shift change time. At  6:35 PM Baghdad Time, the F16’s reached the designated landmark from where they accelerated the speed and climbed up to 2000 feet. For some reasons the SAM/RADAR technicians had turned off the radar due to which they couldn’t detect the flight and had they turned it on the flights would have been visible at least 5 minutes before attack. As the pilots approach the dive point, the lead bomber Col. Zeev Raaz misjudged the dive point and his wingman cut in across to become the number one bomber. As Major Yadlin drop the bomb, Raaz did a loop and came back to drop his 2 ton weight on the reactor. Stunned Iraqis didn’t understand what happened and all 4 bombs were dropped right on the spot after checking the same both pilots climbed up to 40000 Ft on return journey. As Capt. Ramon and Capt Shafir came to drop the bombs, the soldiers returned to site and started to fire the artillery blindly as the SAM’s didn’t have the radar ready to be deployed. Despite the heavy ground fire all 8 Pilots dropped their pay load and out of 16 bombs 12 bombs exploded thereby bringing the reactor to ruins. Soon the Pilots completed the mission confirmed that the reactor was in ruins and started their return journey back. The attack altogether took less than 2 minutes and during the return journey there was no counter attack from Iraq or Saudi or Jordan and only thing of concern for the pilots was having enough Fuel to land in Etzion.

Gen. David Ivry updates PM Begin that the bombing is successful and an hour and a half later PM begin gets the confirmation that All pilots have returned safely and the entire operation from take off to landing was complete success. In this attack Ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian were killed and the casualty came not due to the bombing but due to the blind artillery fire. Most important aspect of this attack is that only the reactor core was completely destroyed and the nuclear fuel storage was not damaged.

Aftermath of the Attack

Prime Minister Menachem Begin informed the world that they have destroyed the Nuclear reactor which was being built in Baghdad. He further stated that, “Israel has nothing to apologize for. We decided to Act now than it is too late and it will defend its people with all means at its Disposal”. Following this incident the famous Begin Doctrine was scripted under the leadership of Then Defence Minister Major General Ariel Sharon. Most interesting thing about this attack was that it was under planning stage for more than a year but did not leak and no country was able to penetrate Israeli intelligence to get a heads up of this. But was it the first the same happened even during Operation Entebbe when 3 C-15 Aircraft travelled from Israel to Uganda to rescue 103 passengers and kill the terrorist and this was the testimonial for Secrecy and surgical operations.

Entire of the world was caught off guard when the operation took place. USA and Israel have been close allies since the Suez Crisis was frankly shocked after hearing the news. Richard Allen (NSA in Reagen Administration USA) heard this news and when he informed President Ronald Reagen about the attack, and the reaction expected from president was also similar but Reagen expressed disbelief and surprise by telling, “Boys will be Boys”. The Next day US cabinet convened and it was virtually a single sided resolution barring too few every single person demanded strong action against Israel which included then Vice president George HW Bush. With just one exception Gen. Alexander Haig who was Secretary of State in USA during attack said, “Before we get to our knees we will thank god Israel did this”.

UN unanimously Adopted the Resolution 487 on 19^th June 1981 and it stated, “The resolution went on to call for a cessation of hostile activities, entitled Iraq to claim for compensation, and urged Israel to place its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards”. Another UN resolution 36/27 was adopted on 13^th November 1981, the resolution also solemnly warned Israel to refrain from taking such measures in the future. On 26^th September 1981 During the IAEA Conference the Board voted to suspend all technical Assistance provided to Israel and to Expel Israel from IAEA. However all the resolution were adopted but none were enacted. In 2009, the Prime Minister of Iraq Nourial-Maliki demanded that Israel compensate Iraq for the destruction of the reactor again the resolution stays as resolution till date.

While French were furious about the attack and they informed Iraq that the new reactor will be built in the same place but due to payment issues, Iran-Iraq War and several other factors the agreement broke down and French withdrew from the project in 1984. Even though the French were furious but privately they were all relieved post the Israel action. In Business point of View, Saddam paid for Reactor, French Fulfilled it and it was destroyed. Most western & Arab Countries were Furious on Israel due to two reasons and they are,

(1). Arab World Hate for Israel.

(2). the attack aided Iran to become a power centre against the likes of Arab and West.

The attack was seen as the direct attack on saddam and this led to massive purge in the Armed forces in Iraq. Saddam ordered the execution of the head of Iraq's Western Air Defense Zone, Colonel Fakhri Hussein Jaber and all officers under his command above the rank of major. In addition, 23 other Iraqi pilots and officers were imprisoned. What changed post the attack was the urge to produce a nuclear bomb in Iraq thereby Saddam diversified the nuclear program further to have a bomb. Israel might have done its act out of threat to its nation but that angered saddam more. But even before Iraq could produce a Bomb, the second gulf Conflict with Iraq invading Kuwait happened which led to Desert Storm and that ended the Iraq’s nuclear ambition forever. Following Desert Storm then Secretary of Defence for US Dick Cheney thanked Gen. David Ivry (who was ambassador to USA) with the Photograph of the damaged site in IRAQ stating, “If not for you guys, Desert storm would not have been Easy”.

Conclusion

Even though the attack received condemnation across from globe, this very attack received praise from countries. Military observers and leaders wanted to understand the way it was done and complexity involved in planning. Most importantly the attack remains a bench mark for intelligence gathering and attacking precision that the professional approach to the mission was given to. In near future one country that tried to repeat a similar approach was India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who contemplated to bomb Kahuta Nuclear plant even though India had MIG 23-BN and Jaguar Ground Attack Aircraft but the secrecy in planning was not in place that the signs of the same got leaked to US and US Thereby warned Pakistan. Further Israel didn’t stop here, it was alleged that On September 6^th 2007, the very same hammer squadron comprising of F16’s and F15’s bombed the Al Kabr nuclear facility in Northern Syria which was built with assistance from Iran and North Korea covertly and also it was alleged that Israeli Kidon Snipers assassinated Gen. Mohammad Suleiman who was head of Key Nuclear project at Tartous in Syria.

Venkats