Leno Fountain
The meticulously prepared and executed plan helped the Israeli air force defeat the larger Arab coalition in the 1967 battle.
At 7:10 a.m. on June 5, 1967, amid heightened Israeli tensions with the Arab bloc, 16 Israeli Air Force Fouga Magister training planes took off.
Israeli Mirage fighter during the 6-Day War Photo: IAF
Five minutes later, almost all of the fighter force with 183 aircraft of all types of the Israeli Air force launched a sortie.
The radar systems of Egypt, Syria and Jordan have been tracking Israeli aircraft for two years, seeing enemy planes take off every morning and follow the same route, before disappearing from view.
However, the Israeli Mirage and Super Mystere fighters did not return to the base on the morning of June 5, 1967, but headed towards Egypt.
In May 1967, Egypt expelled the United Nations peacekeeping forces from the Sinai peninsula and deployed troops along the border with Israel.
Being overwhelmed in number and surrounded on three sides made Israel determined to launch a pre-emptive strike at the enemy.
One of the factors that guarantees victory is the ability to master the sky.
Tel Aviv decided to launch Operation Focus (Mivtza Moked) to destroy the Arab air force on the ground.
On the morning of June 5, 1967, just a few minutes after the Israeli air force crossed the Mediterranean and approached the Egyptian airspace, the radar team in Jordan detected an unusually large number of aircraft and alerted through encrypted channels.
Even when Egypt received the warning, the outcome of the battle was difficult to change.
Egyptian bomber was destroyed at the parking lot on the morning of June 5, 1967 Photo: IAF
"Instead of attacking at dawn, the Israeli air force waited until 7:45-8h45 Egyptian time. By then, the morning mist in the Nile Delta had dissipated.
The Israeli squadrons also appeared just in time with the commander of the Egyptian armed forces and the Air Force leaving the headquarters for an inspection by transport planes.
The Israeli aircraft climbed to a height of 2.7 km before approaching the target of the aircraft sitting neatly at 10 Egyptian air bases.
During this raid, Israel used a secret weapon, a concrete bomb to destroy the runway.
The first attack lasted only 8 minutes.
After 170 minutes, Egypt lost 293 aircraft, including all Tu-16 and Il-28 bombers, and 185 fighters of all kinds.
At 12:45 am on the same day, Israel continued to attack the Syrian, Jordan and Iraqi air bases.
Six hours after the first sortie, Israel wiped out most of the coalition's air force.
"This is one of the smartest air operations in history. It is meticulously prepared and executed with precision every second. The raid has become the gold standard for pre-emptive air strikes aimed at extermination."
