Six Day War (1967)
Six Day War (1967) wikipedia
On June 5, 1967, in response to Egyptian improvisations (including closing the Suez canal to Israeli flagged vessels, the ejection of UN peace-keepers in the Sinai peninsula, the massing of 100 tanks and 100,000 troops in the Sinai peninsula, and an increasingly belligerent attitude towards Israel), Israel launched a preemptive air strike on Egypt, followed by an invasion of the Sinai peninsula and a move towards capturing the Suez Canal. Jordon, citing peace-treaty obligations, entered the war, and attacked towards Western Jerusalem. The last belligerent in the conflict, Syria, did not invade from the north, as the Syrian Air Force had been badly mangled by another Israeli surprise attack on June 5th. The Syrians resorted to shelling northern Israel. Israel rapidly defeated the Egyptians, routing the Egyptian army and capturing the Sinai all the way up to the Suez. On the Jordanian front, the Israelis turned back the Jordanian thrust, and in turn captured all of Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Israelis then turned their attention to capturing the Golan Heights from Syria. In this short war, air power played a decisive role. Israeli preemptive and surprise air attacks on Egyptian and Syrian airfields greatly reduced both of these air forces and allowed the Israelis to establish air superiority and use air power to help defeat superior Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian ground forces. Despite the success of these strikes, numerous air battles took place between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Jordan or Iraq, resulting in mostly Israeli victories. Some of these air battles are portrayed here--most involve Israeli Mirage III fighters and Egyptian MiG-19s or MiG-21s, with a few encounters between Israeli Mirages and Jordanian Hunters. Other aircraft involved include the Vautour, the Super Mystere, the Su-7 and MiG-17s. For more info on the Six-Day War, go here.
6daywar.zip
All scenarios in one zip file
4v6.btl
At noon on June 6, a flight of Egyptian MiG-19s engaged six Mirages. Two MiGs were destroyed. No Israeli aircraft were lost.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
7-15-67.btl
On July 15, 1967, the Egyptians launched a major raid across the Suez Canal to attack Israeli air bases. During this raid, four MiG-21s were vectored to intercept Mirages appraoching from the east. The MiGs got onto the tails of the Mirages and claimed one downed, which the Israelis attributed to a SAM instead.
Abusuwei.btl
This scenario is adapted directly from GDW's Air Superiority module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Furball Over Abu Suweir! 5 June 1967
Background: Twenty EAF MiGs (12 MiG-21s and eight MiG-19s) were scrambled from a base in southern Egypt and sent to the canal zone in response to Israeli surprise attacks. They were met by 16 Mirages near Abu Suweir, and a large swirling air battle developed in which four of the MiGs were quickly shot down. The rest, low on gas, scattered and tried to land at various damaged airfields. Some crashlanded or were abandoned in the air when their pilots failed to find undamaged runways"
Almezze.btl
At the beginning of the Six Day War, the Israeli's raided Syrian airfields around Damascus. The Syrians maintained a CAP of MiG-17s, MiG-19s and MiG-21s over Damascus, resulting in several interesting air-to-air encounters. In this scenario, four Israeli Mysteres raided the large Syrian airfield al-Mezze, outside Damascus. Because of a rather long approach route to their target, the Israelis ended up alerting the Syrians, who intercepted with two MiG-17s. One Mystere was destroyed by cannon fire.
The Mystere is not modeled in FC2, so I have substituted the F-86F.
Alwalid1.btl
At the start of the Six Day War, Israel made strikes against airbases in Iraq in addition to Egypt and Syria. On June 5, 1967, Israel launched two attacks on H-3/al-Walid. The first, by four Vautour bombers, destroyed six MiG-21s and some other aircraft on the ground before patrolling MiGs could react. The second attack struck as two MiG-21s were lifting off to relieve two Hunters on standing patrol. The Israeli strike was disrupted, and the damage to the airbase was minimal, but two MiG-21s were destroyed and one Hunter damaged in the ensuing dogfight.
I don't have details for what the composition of the Israeli raid was in this instance, so I assumed that there was a flight of Vautour bombers escorted by Mrages. Since the Vautour and Hawker Hunter are not modeled in FC2, I have substituted the Buccaneer for the Vautour and the A-7F for the Hunter.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Alwalid2.btl
At the start of the Six Day War, Israel made strikes against airbases in Iraq in addition to Egypt and Syria. On June 5, 1967, Israel launched two attacks on H-3/al-Walid, resulting in several planes being destroyed on the ground. However, these strikes failed to knockout H-3. On June 7, another strike was launched against H-3. By this time, the MiG-21 squadron normally stationed there had been withdrawn into interior Iraq, so defence of the airbase was left to Hunters. The Hunters claimed a Mirage and a Vautour, and as the scattered survivors of the raid headed back to Israel, they were intercepted by a pair of Syrian MiG-21s which damaged one more Mirage III.
I don't have details for what the composition of the Israeli raid was in this instance, so I assumed that there was a flight of Vautour bombers escorted by Mrages. Since the Vautour and Hawker Hunter are not modeled in FC2, I have substituted the Buccaneer for the Vautour and the A-7E for the Hunter.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
At the beginning of the Six Day War, the Israeli's raided Syrian airfields around Damascus. The Syrians maintained a CAP of MiG-17s, MiG-19s and MiG-21s over Damascus, resulting in several encounters between raiders and defenders. In this encounter, four Dassault Super Mysteres bombed the runways at Dumayr. At the time of the raid, most of the CAP aircraft were on the ground and refueling. However, one MiG-19, flown by Capt Ghazy al-Wazwazy, did manage to intercept the raiders and claimed to down one (piloted by Capt Dan Sigiri). For their part, the Israelis claimed that Capt Sigiri was downed by AAA.
The Super Mystere is not modeled in FC2, so, using the closest analog in performance and overall characteristics, I have substituted the MiG-19 for the Super Mystere. Both of these aircraft have similar performance characteristics and carry roughly similar ordinance loads (although the MiG-19 falls a bit short of the Super Mystere here). The Super Mystere does not carry missiles when armed for a strike mission, so the MiG-19s do not carry missiles.....only bombs.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Dumayr2.btl
At the beginning of the Six Day War, Israel launched a series of raids aimed at disabling Arab air bases and aircraft. Several of these raids were directed at Syria. The airbase at Dumayr, near Damascus, was attacked by four Super Mysteres at 1400 hours on June 5, 1967. While the Syrians had been maintaining a steady CAP force for most of the day, at the time this raid arrived, most of the CAP aircraft had landed to refuel. However, one MiG-19, piloted by Capt. Ghazy al-Wazwazy was in the air at the time and attacked the Israelis, resulting in one downed Super Mystere (piloted by Capt Dan Sigiri). The Israelis claimed that Sigiri was shot don by AAA.
Since FC2 does not model the Super Mystere, in this version of this encounter I have used the F-100 to substitute for the French fighter. The F-100s are carrying 2000lbs of bombs, the historical max load of the Super Mystere.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Dumayrb.btl
At the beginning of the Six Day War, Israel launched a series of raids aimed at disabling Arab air bases and aircraft. Several of these raids were directed at Syria. The airbase at Dumayr, near Damascus, twice on June 5. The first attack by four Super Mysteres was followed soon after by four Vautours. This raid was greeted by an alerted air defense system, and a pair of MiG-21s. One was lost to AAA and another was claimed by one of the Syrian MiG-21 pilots. However, this claim has never been verified and the remaining Vautours escaped back to Isreal.
Since FC2 does not model the Vautour, in this version of this encounter I have used the Bucaneer to substitute for the French bomber. The Bucaneers are carrying 6000lbs of bombs, within the historical max load of the Vautour.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Epstein1.btl
June 6, 1967, during the Six Day War, future ace-of-aces, Lt. Giora Epstein is on his 4th combat mission and still without his first kill. He and his leader were on scrambled towards contacts towards the West. As they headed towards Egypt a second pair of Mirages joined up with them. Over El Arish airbase, Epstein looked down to see three Egyptian Su-7s being chased by yet another pair of Mirages. The second pair of Mirages quickly split S'd down and joined in the chase. A situation developed where the Egyptians and Israelis become intermingled, with a Su-7 being chased by a Mirage which in turn was being chased by a Su-7 which was chased by another Mirage. Further behind the third Su-7 was chased by a third Mirage. The first two Su-7s were rapidly dispatched by cannon fire, while the third accelerated, attempting to outrun his pursuer. The Mirage on his tail attempts a Shafrir shot, which misses, and then resorts to long range cannon fire which depeletes his ammunition without acheiving the kill. Meanwhile, Epstein dieves down to join the pursuit. The initial Mirage breaks off the pursuit, and Epstein closes in on the Sukhoi, downing it with cannon fire--his first kill. Epstein would go on to achieve 17 kills, to become the highest scoring jet ace in history.
This scenario was adapted from the situation described in the History Channel program "Dogfights", episode "Dogfights of the Holy Land", and supplemented with information from http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/Kills/FirstDown.IN.aspx?lang=EN&lobbyID=40&folderID=43&subfolderID=294&docfolderID=294&docID=1422
Giora1st.btl
On November 13, 1966, two flights of Israeli Mirage 3 fighters (amongst the Israeli aircraft was Ran Ronen, who was to become a 7 kill ace) got into a tangle with a bunch of Jordanian Hawker Hunters. The Jordanian fighters were attacking Israeli troops when the Mirages made visual contact and initiated the fight. A classic dogfight developed between the two sides, with aircraft twisting and turning, with each side attempting to get on his opponent's tail. Neither the Israelis nor the Jordanians could get an advantage. The dogfight continued for over six minutes with no kills for either side. Finally, Ronen picked out a Hunter and latched onto it. This aircraft was flown by Jordanian pilot Lt. Mouwaafak Salti. The two aircraft dueled, with Ronen eventually getting the upper hand. The Jordanian pilot lead Ronen down into a canyon, twisting just above the canyon floor for two and a half minutes. Finally, Ronen got a clear shot when the Jordanian had to pitch up to avoid a hill, fatally damaging the Hunter. Salti did not survive his ejection.
It is unclear whether the Mirages are armed with air-to-air missiles. Apparently none were used in the fight (although the Mirages are shown carrying missiles), so I have left them out in this version. See Ronen2b.btl for a version with missile equipped Mirages.
This scenario was adapted from the situation described in the History Channel program "Dogfights", episode "Desert Aces". See also Ramsalti.btl for another version of this scenario.
Giora4a.btl
This scenario was directly adapted from GDW's Air Superiority module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Lions of the Air (Kill 1 and 2) 5-7 June 1967
Background: First Lt. Giora, a 22 year-old Mirage pilot on his very first combat mission, shot down two MiG-21s over the Egyptian base of Abu Suweir. Later that day, he shot another MiG-21 off a comrades tail. The following morning, his Mirage was damaged by AAA fire, and he was wounded in the leg. After only 24 hours in the hospital, he convinced the doctor to release him and, disguising his pain, got assigned to another mission in which he engaged two MiG-17s, downing one of them. This brought his total to four kills in as many missions-a remarkable performance."
Modifications: This scenario covers Lt. Giora's first two kills.
Mirage #1 is piloted by Lt. Giora.
Giora4b.btl
This scenario was directly adapted from GDW's Air Superiority module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Lions of the Air (Kill 3) 5-7 June 1967
Background: First Lt. Giora, a 22 year-old Mirage pilot on his very first combat mission, shot down two MiG-21s over the Egyptian base of Abu Suweir. Later that day, he shot another MiG-21 off a comrades tail. The following morning, his Mirage was damaged by AAA fire, and he was wounded in the leg. After only 24 hours in the hospital, he convinced the doctor to release him and, disguising his pain, got assigned to another mission in which he engaged two MiG-17s, downing one of them. This brought his total to four kills in as many missions-a remarkable performance."
Modifications: This scenario covers Lt. Giora's third kill.
Mirage #1 is piloted by Lt. Giora.
Giora4c.btl
This scenario was directly adapted from GDW's Air Superiority module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Lions of the Air (Kill 4) 5-7 June 1967
Background: First Lt. Giora, a 22 year-old Mirage pilot on his very first combat mission, shot down two MiG-21s over the Egyptian base of Abu Suweir. Later that day, he shot another MiG-21 off a comrades tail. The following morning, his Mirage was damaged by AAA fire, and he was wounded in the leg. After only 24 hours in the hospital, he convinced the doctor to release him and, disguising his pain, got assigned to another mission in which he engaged two MiG-17s, downing one of them. This brought his total to four kills in as many missions-a remarkable performance."
Modifications: This scenario covers Lt. Giora's fourth kill.
Mirage #1 is piloted by Lt. Giora.
Qantara.btl
After the end of the ix Day War, there were continued clashes betwem the Israeli and Egyptian air forces. On July 5, 1967, four Egyptian MiG-21s clashed with two Mirages just east of Qantara. One MiG was damaged, and the Egyptians claimed two Mirages damaged.
Ransalti.btl
This scenario was adapted directly from the GDW "Air Superiority" module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"The Longest Fight! 13 November 1966
During a raid against a PLO camp in Jordan, four IAF Mirages providing top cover encountered four Jordanian Hunters. The planes immediately engaged. A Mirage, flown by Lt. Col. Ran, saddled in on Lt. Ehsan Chourdom's Hunter, but had to break off when a second Hunter, piloted bt Lt. Mouwaafak Salti, attacked. Forcing an overshot, Lt. Col. Ran got Lt. Salti, maneuvering desperately, dove into a canyon. The Mirage tenaciously hung on as the Hunter twisted expertly among the canyon walls. Finally, after several misses, the Mirage's cannonfire scored--the Hunter burst into flames. Lt. Salti ejected as his crippled jet plowed into a canyon wall, but he did not survive. The battle had lasted a full eight minutes! Lt. Salti was held in high regard by the Israelis for his extreme fighting spirit and skill."
Since the Hawker Hunter is not modeled in FC2, I have substituted the A-7E for the Hunter, as the performance of the A-7E most closely approximates the performance of the Hunter.
Rom1.btl
Information for this encounter was derived from the History Channel series Dogfights! "Dogfights of the Middle East".
June 7, 1967.
Lieutenant Giora Rom (with 3 kills under his belt over the previous two days--see GIORA4A.btl and GIORA4B.btl for accounts of these kills) is on patrol with two other Mirage 3 pilots over the Sinai, when they are informed by GCI that Israeli troops in Bir Gafgafa are under attack by a couple of Egyptian MiGs. Rom is the first to spot the MiGs and he breaks out of formation to attack the MiGs, leaving the rest of his flight clueless as to his whereabouts. As he approaches the MiGs, Rom get a request for his location from his flight leader. Rom, knowing full well that if he gives away his position, will likely be ordered to back off attacking the MiGs so that his leader can engage the MiGs instead, deliberately misleads the rest of his flight, telling them that he is headed due East back towards Israel. The other two Mirages head east looking for Rom, leaving him free to engage the low level MiGs. Rom ends up downing both, making the first Israeli jet ace.
Another depiction of this encounter can be found in scenario GIORA4C.btl
Ronen.btl
June 5, 1967.
Ram Ronen leads a flight of four Mirages over the Red Sea and into Egypt to attack the Egyptian air base at Ghardaka. Their mission is to crater the runway at this air base using newly developed delayed fuse runway penetrting munitions. The Mirages successfully bomb and damage the runway, but the flight leader calls bingo fuel, and bugs out of the attack, leaving just Ronen and the other two young pilots to continue the attack. The Mirages were soon ambushed by a flight of patrolling MiG-19s, all of which are subsequently destroyed, two by Ronen, one by young Arnon Levoshin, and the fourth a squadron kill, the result of the Egyptian pilot attempting to land on the cratered runway and getting destroyed in the process.
Ronen2.btl
November 13, 1966, two flights of Israeli Mirage 3 fighters (amongst the Israeli aircraft was Ran Ronen, who was to become a 7 kill ace) got into a tangle with a bunch of Jordanian Hawker Hunters. The Jordanian fighters were attacking Israeli troops when the Mirages made visual contact and initiated the fight. A classic dogfight developed between the two sides, with aircraft twisting and turning, with each side attempting to get on his opponent's tail. Neither the Israelis nor the Jordanians could get an advantage. The dogfight continued for over six minutes with no kills for either side. Finally, Ronen picked out a Hunter and latched onto it. This aircraft was flown by Jordanian pilot Lt. Mouwaafak Salti. The two aircraft dueled, with Ronen eventually getting the upper hand. The Jordanian pilot lead Ronen down into a canyon, twisting just above the canyon floor for two and a half minutes. Finally, Ronen got a clear shot when the Jordanian had to pitch up to avoid a hill, fatally damaging the Hunter. Salti did not survive his ejection.
This scenario was adapted from the situation described in the History Channel program "Dogfights!", episode "Desert Aces". See also Ramsalti.btl for another version of this scenario.
Ronen2b.btl
On November 13, 1966, two flights of Israeli Mirage 3 fighters (amongst the Israeli aircraft was Ran Ronen, who was to become a 7 kill ace) got into a tangle with a bunch of Jordanian Hawker Hunters. The Jordanian fighters were attacking Israeli troops when the Mirages made visual contact and initiated the fight. A classic dogfight developed between the two sides, with aircraft twisting and turning, with each side attempting to get on his opponent's tail. Neither the Israelis nor the Jordanians could get an advantage. The dogfight continued for over six minutes with no kills for either side. Finally, Ronen picked out a Hunter and latched onto it. This aircraft was flown by Jordanian pilot Lt. Mouwaafak Salti. The two aircraft dueled, with Ronen eventually getting the upper hand. The Jordanian pilot lead Ronen down into a canyon, twisting just above the canyon floor for two and a half minutes. Finally, Ronen got a clear shot when the Jordanian had to pitch up to avoid a hill, fatally damaging the Hunter. Salti did not survive his ejection.
It is unclear whether the Mirages are armed with air-to-air missiles. Apparently none were used in the fight (although the Mirages are shown carrying missiles), so I have left them out in this version. See Ronen2b.btl for a version with missile equipped Mirages.
This scenario was adapted from the situation described in the History Channel program "Dogfights", episode "Desert Aces". See also Ramsalti.btl for another version of this scenario.
Shoukry.btl
At the start of the Six Day War, the Israelis destroyed most of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. However, there were a few Egyptian pilots who managed to get airborne to engage the attackers. Nabil Shoukry was one of those pilots. He lead a flight of 4 MiG-21s to defend Egyptian air fields. While on CAP, he was directed to two Mirages flying nearby. According to Shourky, he closed on the Mirages from behind and downed one with two Atoll shots.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Sinbad.btl
The scenario was adapted directly from the GDW boardgame "Air Superiority" module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Sinbad in Action! 1962
Israel acquired the supersonic French Dassault Super Mystere Fighter in 1959 as a counter to the improved MiG-17s and MiG-19 Farmers that the rab air forces were receiving. It was immediately nicknamed 'Sinbad' as a play on its designator, 'SMB.2. The Super Mystere became the main IAF interceptor until the arrival of the Mirage III in 1963. Around 1962, a pair of SMB.2s shot down two Syrian MiG-17s in a short skirmish."
Since the Super Mystere is not modeled in FC-2, I have chosen the F-100D as a substitute, as the F-100 has similar performance characteristics to the Super Mystere.
Sinbad2.btl
The scenario was adapted directly from the GDW boardgame "Air Superiority" module "Desert Falcons" by JD Webster.
"Sinbad in Action! 1962
Israel acquired the supersonic French Dassault Super Mystere Fighter in 1959 as a counter to the improved MiG-17s and MiG-19 Farmers that the Arab air forces were receiving. It was immediately nicknamed 'Sinbad' as a play on its designator, 'SMB.2. The Super Mystere became the main IAF interceptor until the arrival of the Mirage III in 1963. Around 1962, a pair of SMB.2s shot down two Syrian MiG-17s in a short skirmish."
Since the Super Mystere is not modeled in FC-2, I have chosen the F-100D as a substitute, as the F-100 has similar performance characteristics to the Super Mystere..
Surprise.btl
On the 5th of June, 1967, Israel launched surprise attacks on Egyptian airbases. At many of the bases, the Egyptians were caught completely by surprise and did not manage to put up any sort of meaningful resistance. At El-Milayz airbase, one MiG-21 pilot managed to get up in the air in a MiG-21 after the beginning of the attacks. This MiG attacked the incoming formations but was quickly shot down. See if you can do better.
Tanks.btl
On June 8, 1967, as the Israeli Army advanced on the Suez Canal, Egyptian MiG-19s were required to make strikes on Israeli tanks. In this scenario, MiG-19s leading an attack on Israeli tanks were jumped by 8 Mirages on battlefield CAP. In the resulting melee, one MiG-19 was downed, and one damaged. The Egyptians initially claimed a Mirage, but that claim was subsequently withdrawn. From the description of this encounter, it is unclear how many MiGs were involved. I have choosen 6 as a reasonable number.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Tsaikal.btl
At the beginning of the Six Day War, the Israeli's raided Syrian airfields around Damascus. The Syrians maintained a CAP of MiG-17s, MiG-19s and MiG-21s over Damascus, resulting in several encounters between raiders and defenders. In this encounter, four Dassault Super Mysteres bombed the runways at Tsaikal. They were intercepted by two new MiG-21. In the resulting dogfight, both MiG-21s were destroyed, with no losses for the Israeli raiders.
The Super Mystere is not modeled in FC2, so, using the closest analog in performance and overall characteristics, I have substituted the MiG-19 for the Super Mystere. They have similar maneuvering characteristics, top speeds and ordinance capacity (although the MiG-19 falls a bit short in this category). The Super Mystere, whle on strike missions, does not carry air-to-air missiles, so these MiG-19s do not carry missiles.....only bombs.
In version tsaikal2.btl, the F-100 is used to substitute for the Super Mystere.
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper
Tsaikal2.btl
At the beginning of the Six Day War, the Israeli's raided Syrian airfields around Damascus. The Syrians maintained a CAP of MiG-17s, MiG-19s and MiG-21s over Damascus, resulting in several encounters between raiders and defenders. In this encounter, four Dassault Super Mysteres bombed the runways at Tsaikal. They were intercepted by two new MiG-21. In the resulting dogfight, both MiG-21s were destroyed, with no losses for the Israeli raiders.
The Super Mystere is not modeled in FC2, so, using the closest analog in performance and overall characteristics, I have substituted the F-100D for the Super Mystere (in version tsaikal.btl, MiG-19s were used to substitute for the Super Mystere).
Source: "Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat" by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper