Israel Matzav

The first helicopter war

The Israel Air Force’s history with attack helicopters dates back to before the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when Brig.-Gen. (res.) Nehemia Dagan, a decorated helicopter pilot, urged the military’s top brass to invest in creating an attack helicopter capability.

“We originally raised the idea before 1973 but there were people in the IDF – particularly in the ground forces but also in the air force – who were opposed to the investment,” Dagan recalled in an interview this week.

The realization that the air force required such a capability came after the war, during which IDF armored divisions and infantry brigades encountered fierce resistance from the Egyptian and Syrian military, and fighter jets were downed by sophisticated Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems.

“Their ability to fly low gave the helicopters an advantage over fighter jets when facing air-defense systems,” Dagan explained.

The first helicopters arrived in 1975 and two squadrons were established – one of Cobras and the other of Defenders. A number of years later, the IAF installed TOW anti-tank-missile launchers on the helicopters but it wasn’t until the 1982 war that they saw combat.

During the war, Dagan said, the two squadrons destroyed a combined 110 armored vehicles – mostly from the Syrian military.

“It was an unbelievable success,” he said. “The two squadrons destroyed more armored vehicles together than each of the two divisions that operated in Lebanon did on their own.”

Labels: helicopter, Operation Peace for Galilee

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:09 AM