Wings of Destruction

1 7 Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF) was formed when Israel declared statehood in 1948 and found itself under immediate attack. A variety of obsolete and surplus ex-World War II combat aircraft were quickly sourced by various means to supplement this fleet. The battles in this episode include famous one on one actions during the Six-Day War. On June 5, 1967, in Operation Focus, the IAF destroyed most of the Egyptian air force while their planes were still on the ground. By the end of the day the IAF had severely crippled the Syrian and Jordanian air forces as well. The Israelis claimed a total of 451 aerial victories against 10 aircraft lost. In the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, the IAF suffered heavy casualties from Soviet anti-aircraft surface-to-air missiles, but managed to regroup and assist IDF ground forces and later bomb targets in Syria and Egypt. One of the first battles in the war’s air front was the Ofira Air Battle, involving two Israeli Phantoms versus 28 Egyptian Mig-17s and Mig-21s.