June 17, 1981, 3:50 p.m., Aichion Air Base, Sinai Peninsula.

The delta wing, with a full-motion flat-tailed, single-vertical tail, single-engine, huge belly air intake, and wing-body fusion layout, is parked on the runway by Israel's most advanced and one of the most advanced fighters in the world: the F16 Fighting Falcon.

Sitting in the wide bubble cockpit, Zeyve-Raz "lay" on the flight seat, carefully checking all the instruments.

Raz was the commander of the 117 fighter squadron and began to fly the F16, and Raz immediately liked this kind of aircraft, compared to the F4 ghost that flew before, one was a Mercedes-Benz BMW on the highway, and the other was a walk-behind tractor on the farm.

Unlike all fighters, the F16 is the first to adopt a sidestick layout, the steering stick is not between the legs, but on the right side, plus the seat tilted back 30 degrees, which is enough to ensure that it is easier to ride the aircraft in the case of large overloads, the static unstable design and the four-degree fly-by-wire longitudinal system, so that this fighter is very flexible, and the combat ability of the entry range is very excellent, but this mission is bombing, not fighting with MiG fighters.

After the check, Raz released the brakes, gently pushed the throttle with his left hand, and slid towards the track.

After aligning the runway, Raz checked all the instruments again, waiting for the tower's instructions.

"Pap, papa, pap," three red flares, emitting beautiful light in the sky.

The powerful F100-PW-100 turbofan engine spewed out lilac flames, the afterburner was already open, and the powerful thrust of 111 kN allowed the Fighting Falcon to begin to accelerate on the runway.

Raz likes this feeling, he feels a strong thrust on his back, the runway around him is getting faster and faster, on the head-up display, the speed has reached more than 300 kilometers per hour, Raz uses his right hand forcefully, pulls the steering stick back, and suddenly, all the scenery leaves his sight, and the fighter plane rises from the ground and pierces the sky.

Under the belly and wings, three large auxiliary fuel tanks were hung, and under the two wings, two 908-kilogram bombs were mounted, and the wingtips were two Sidewinder missiles.

Immediately behind Raz, seven F16s and six F15s took off in turn, formed a formation over the airfield, and flew east.

Eight F16 fighters, the 117th Fighter Squadron and the 110th Fighter Squadron, the operation was codenamed "String" and "Chisel" two groups, and the commanders were Lieutenant Colonel Raz and Lieutenant Colonel Amir Nahumi. Six F15 fighters, belonging to the 133rd Fighter Squadron, led by Colonel Bahari, were responsible for covering the bombing mission and preventing the attacks of Iraqi fighters.

Operation Babylon, which shocked the world, is about to begin!

Since Iraq has been steadfast in its nuclear programme, Israel has struggled to sleep on it.

For historical reasons, Israel and the surrounding Arab countries are on the same page, and since the founding of the state, a total of four wars have broken out in the Middle East, although each time Israel has won the victory, expanding the size of the country several times. Including the current air base, it was all robbed. For the survival of the Jews, this can only be done. However, the price paid by Israel for this is also enormous, and countless Jewish men, one after another, have fallen on the battlefield.

The sworn enemy Iraq, which has been developing a nuclear program since the seventies, introduced from Italy and France a plutonium separation plant and an Osirak research reactor for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. The arrogant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared: The Arab nation will not be weak forever, and they will fight back to the Jewish invaders once and for all at the right time!

Since two years ago, the Israeli Air Force has been preparing to bomb the Osrak reactor, which is being built 32 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, at the right time!

However, the main model at that time was the F4, this kind of fighter, the range is too short, can not reach Baghdad a thousand kilometers away, last year, the United States finally sold the latest F16 fighter to Israel, Israel was overjoyed, immediately sent pilots to receive, after returning, the most important thing is long-distance flight training.

For this bombing mission, they have been preparing for more than a year, during which they have also infiltrated the painstaking efforts of Prime Minister Begin, Air Force Commander General Avery and others.

Israel does not share a border with Iraq, separated by Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and in order to pass through these hostile countries without being detected, as early as a few months ago, several F4 Phantom fighter jets were constantly scanning these areas to find loopholes in the other side's airspace, and finally, it was decided to fly over at an ultra-low altitude from the junction of the Jordanian and Saudi borders, enter from western Iraq, and go straight to the Osrak reactor in the southern suburbs of Baghdad.

In order to confuse each other as much as possible, the planes were painted in the standard livery of the Jordanian Air Force. Moreover, when entering the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, it flew low all the way.

After the group lifted off, Raz pushed the longitudinal rod to the right, and at the same time, with his right foot on the rudder, a moderate force feedback was transmitted from the fly-by-wire system, and the fuselage rotated and flew to the right.

It turns out that the F4 ghost fighter is a hydraulic longitudinal system, at low altitude, the air density is large, the relative resistance is large, you need to press more rods, and the force on your hand has to be larger, and at high altitude, the air is thin, you need to press less, and the force on your hand is also smaller. And this F16, thanks to the advanced electronics industry in the United States, has been changed to fly-by-wire, specifically, that is, the longitudinal rod is a sensor, through the computer to the aircraft to send commands, this control method, high altitude and low altitude, the longitudinal rod is the same quality, greatly reducing the difficulty of use.

The westerly wind was strong and it was supposed to bypass the Gulf of Aqaba, but before it could react, the group of planes had already flown over the Gulf of Aqaba.

After the group entered the airspace over Saudi Arabia, it lowered its altitude to 60 meters to avoid Saudi radar surveillance.

For a fighter flying fast at Mach 0.7 (Mach 1 is 1 times the speed of sound, 340 meters per second), flying at such a low altitude is almost like dancing with death, but for a fighter pilot, this kind of training is often carried out.

Since the earth is a curved surface, and the radar beam propagates in a straight line, to avoid the radar, that is, the lower the better, and the earth will play a very good role in shading. Now that the location of the opponent's long-range warning radar has been discovered, and there is a low altitude as a cover, the probability of being discovered is very low.

Flying at ultra-low altitudes to cover up one's actions is already a common tactic in the Air Force, and the solution is not nothing, the simplest is to move the radar into the sky, that is, an AWACS aircraft.

Simple is easy, however, it is very difficult to implement. After the radar is in the sky, it stands high and can see far away, and the situation of the terrain can be seen at a glance, and all the hills and mountains are also taken over, and the plane, hidden in the chaotic echo on the ground, is even more difficult to find. Only by relying on advanced electronic technology to filter out clutter can it reveal the aircraft flying secretly.

In this regard, the United States is still the most technologically developed, and a fleet of aircraft attacked a nuclear reactor, and there was an E2 Hawkeye early warning plane imported from the United States, hovering over Israel to provide information support.

You can almost see the yellow sand on the ground, surrounded by sand dunes of the same color. In this case, just like flying at sea level, it is easy to hallucinate, and if you are not careful, the plane will be destroyed and people will die. The way to overcome it is through rigorous training. Those who participated in this operation were the elite of pilots and had participated in several air combat operations.

Eight F16 fighters, lined up in a tight formation, in this case, even if detected by long-range radar, can be mistaken for a large aircraft. Dense formation is a test of challenging flight technology, and it is also a formation method of great practical combat significance.

Lieutenant Colonel Nahumi's wingman is Colonel Iftuchi-Spiket, Israel's ace pilot, who can become an ace and have to shoot down five enemy planes in air combat. Iftachi, with the rank of colonel, is the commander of the air base where the Israeli F16 is stationed, with a higher rank than all members of the operation team.

Knowing that two of the top flying squadrons were on a mission to bomb Iraq's nuclear reactors, Iftachi was so moved that he insisted on participating in the air strikes, even if he was not acting as a commander. In order to achieve this, he even went beyond Raz and Air Force Commander Avery to go directly to the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Rafael Itan. After grinding and grinding, Rafael could not withstand Iftaci's repeated requests and replaced one of the intended pilots with him.

However, it is very unfortunate that Iftachi contracted the flu yesterday and cannot fly for pilots who need to do strenuous exercise. In order to participate in the operation, Iftachi concealed that he had the flu.

Now, Iftachi has a bit of a runny nose, but fortunately it is at a low altitude, and the oxygen mask has been removed, otherwise, the snot will flow into the oxygen mask and block the air intake, and he will be in big trouble. He steadied the steering stick with his right hand and wiped his nose nimbly with his left.

In order to conceal themselves, radio silence was practiced throughout the flight, and the pilots flew over Saudi Arabia according to the route they had already memorized.

The fuel of two 1,200-liter wing drop tanks, and an 800-liter belly drop tank, was quickly exhausted, and in the Nevd desert, where no one was around, Raz was the first to drop the drop tank.

Three glittering auxiliary fuel tanks, shining in the western sun, fell into the desert.

Flying at low altitude, the drop fuel tank will produce a lot of air resistance, and after dropping the drop tank, Raz suddenly felt that the plane was light, and the speed reached Mach 0.8 without pushing the throttle stick.

Captain Ilan-Raymond, who was following Iftachi, was surprised to find that the ace pilot in front actually forgot to throw the auxiliary fuel tank? Does he want to throw the auxiliary fuel tank on top of the nuclear reactor as well?

Having to keep the radio silent, Raymond did not speak, pushing the throttle stick with his left hand and gently pushing the stick to the right with his right hand, while at the same time, with his right foot at the rudder, F16 under his hand, like an obedient child, obediently turned to the right and caught up with Iftaci.

Raymond was in the bubble cockpit, looking at Iftachi who was flying level with him, stretched out his thumb with his left hand, wanted to point down, and then, moved the lower longitudinal rod left and right, F16 was like a light swallow, and shook the longitudinal rod twice.

Iftaci wondered about Raymond's movements, could it be that long-distance flights were too boring? Why is there no queue to keep? When I saw the underside of Raymond's wing, it dawned on me: I actually forgot to throw the auxiliary fuel tank!

Iftachi stretched out his hand, flipped the switch on the left panel, and the three auxiliary fuel tanks fell obediently.

Raymond breathed a sigh of relief, and the ace pilot, how could he do such a foolish thing, if he could go back this time, he must make a joke with him.

As the eighth fighter to attack, eight people joked together last night, and if it was sacrificed, Raymond would probably have the biggest surname. However, Raymond still played the role of queen without hesitation, not because he was the lowest rank, but because he was not yet married, and he took on this mission with great awareness.

Suddenly, a noisy radio sound came from the international answering channel, "No. 8 airspace, there are planes in No. 8 airspace, please report the origin." "Broken English.

Oops, detected by a long-range Saudi radar.

"Jordanian Air Force, routine training." Raz replied in proficient English.

Saudi air traffic controllers believe it is true, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have always had friendly relations, and it is common for two [***] planes to enter the country.

At 5:10 p.m., the aircraft group successfully entered Iraqi airspace from the southwestern border between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

For concealment, eight F16 and six F15 fighters, again descending to an ultra-low altitude of thirty meters, headed for the Osrak reactor south of Baghdad.

Operation Babylon is about to take place in the skies over Iraq. The eyes of all Israel were focused on a few fighter jets that had been flying long distances.

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