The Israeli Defense Forces
in the Yom Kippur War

The Air Corps (Hel Avrir)

by Greg Novak and Frank Chadwick

The Israeli government was quick to realize the need for the command of the air on the modem battlefield, and as such the Air Corps held the "most favored status" when it came to funding. In 1973, as is now, the Air Force was the one element of ZAHAL that relied on regulars with the ratio being three regulars to every reservist or conscript. This made it politically easier to use the Air Corps for operations during "Fourth War", as losses from regulars forces did not have the impact on Israeli public opinion that losses inflicted on conscripts or recalled reservists had. The net result of this was to have in 1973 a number of pilots whose combat abilities had been honed to a fine edge over the last few years.

Prior to 1968, the Air Corps had concentrated on use of fighter aircraft, to the exclusion to of attack and other types. The Israeli attitude was that since their resources were limited, once air superiority was won, it was possible to use fighters and even trainers for ground attack. If air superiority was NOT won, attack aircraft would be useless. Thus, the Israeli Air Corps concentrated on the use of fighters prior to 1968, purchasing them from France until the supply was closed off in 1968.

The new relationship between Israel and the United States after 1967 had a major impact on the Air Corps. The United States was willing to supply the Israeli Air Corps with not only first line fighters, notably the F-4 Phantom II, but attack aircraft in the form of the A-4 Skyhawk.

These aircraft were first flown in the "Fourth War", in which they proved their worth. Only in one area did the Israeli Air Corps lag behind, and that was in the nature of electronic warfare. Though the reason for this is still disputed - some sources claim that the Air Corps was not allowed the equipment, while other sources state that it was rejected as being unnecessary by the Air Corps. Regardless of the reason, the use of ECM equipment by the Israeli Air Corps was very limited prior to the start of the Yom Kippur War.

In CDII terms, the Israeli Air Corps had the following aircraft in October of 1973 (Aircrews Veteran, Morale 10):

    Combat Aircraft
    35 Phantom II
    38 Skyhawk
    12 Mirage III
    3 Super Mystere

    Transports
    2 C-130
    3 C-47
    2 C-97
    8 Nordatlas

    Helicopters
    2 Super Felon
    3 CH-53
    7 AB 205

    Delivered after the start of the war
    9 Phantom II
    5 Skyhawk

    As the war progressed, additional ECM gear and weapons arrived in Israel from the United States. Until the ground forces on both fronts overran the SAM belts and opened the way for ground attack missions, the Air Corps took heavy losses on the ground attack missions.

The Israeli Defense Forces Yom Kippur War

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