The Arab-Israeli War of Attrition - 'What If'

[MAD]

I hope that this has not been done before!!
But here goes -


The Arab-Israeli War of Attrition has been continuing, with neither side willing to back down!
But things are starting to slip from the Soviet-Arab plans!!

The Kremlin leaders, frustrated and stunned by Israel's daring exploits, in face of their quite open threat to intervene actively on the side of the Arab nations.
Many in the Kremlin (encouraged by the Soviet military and the KGB) held great concerns that should Israel attack - Billions of Dollars worth of the Soviet-made arms (most of their latest technology!) be seized or destroyed.
The KGB argued that years of expensive funding to their Arab clients would be down the drain and Soviet prestige would quickly unravel around the world, especially with the Arab's.
U.S. intelligence was already picking up signs of this fear in the Kremlin. In the President's daily brief on June 9, for example, the CIA informed President Johnson that 'the Soviets are finding it hard to conceal their shock over the rapid Egyptian military collapse. An unidentified Soviet official could not understand 'how our intelligence could have been so wrong'.

Within days the Soviets had recovered and Acting Defense Minister Andrei A. Grechko and KGB Chairman Yuri V. Andropov were already pressing for the immediate dispatch of strong Soviet forces to the Middle East.

On top of the already 1,500 Soviet military advisors already embedded into Egyptian units (from Regimental-sized units upwards!) Operation 'Kavkaz', is implemented
With the first units of an entire Soviet Air Defense Force Division, the V-PVO started to arrive in Egypt, equipped with an array of anti-aircraft artillery, the latest variant of the S-75 Dvina (SA-2 'Guidline') and the newer S-125 Neva (SA-3 'Goa') SAM systems and their associate early warning, fire control radars and C3 facilities. A total of three SAM-brigades arrived, one deploying along the Hilwan-Suez axis (so as to protect the strategic and prestigious Aswan dam) , another in the Alexandria area, and a third one defending Cairo.
The first SAM-site was declared operational by 15 March 1970.
On top of this was an integral MiG-21 'Fishbed' equipped Interception Air Brigade.
These Soviet fighters were flown by specially selected and highly trained pilots.
For the Soviet's High Command did not risk any chances against the combat experienced Israeli pilots.
But Israeli intelligence was not dormant and as soon as the Soviet pilots were operational in Egypt, their radio traffic was monitored and carefully recorded.
This Israeli intelligence was to go one further, if things were not bad enough – detecting and recording North Korean MiG-21 pilots voices in combat over Egypt!!

To apply more pressure and to show the United States that it was serious, Kremlin ordered the Soviet navy to ready thirty Soviet warships that had been moved from the Black Sea southward to the Mediterranean in June 1967, and to being on standby for action against Israeli targets!
This was to be the Soviet's 'Cuban Missile Crisis's back in the United States face.

At the same time the Soviet's carried out strategic recce mission over Israel's Dimona nuclear facility with Tu-123 Yastreb long-range, high-altitude supersonic strategic reconnaissance.
The CIA (unknowingly wrongly) claims it as the new Soviet 'super fighter', which NATO has given the name 'Foxbat'
To which Israel could not intercept and at the time had no answer to!

After losing several of their latest F-4E Phantom jets, to Soviet supplied and operated SAMs, on the 30 July 1970, the Israeli Air Force Commander Maj Gen. Mordechai Hod, advised the IDF Chief of Staff to attack a single Soviet SAM battery as a warning to the Soviet's

Whilst this was being deliberated within the Israeli political arena, and with no answer forth coming, frustrated by his and his service's inability to secure critical air superiority over the West Bank of the Suez Canal and suffering continues losses to these Soviet SAM sights, Maj Gen. Mordechai Hod acted on his own intuitive and the advice of his pilots.
The opportunity presented itself, when a Soviet flown and controlled MiG-21 damaged an IAF A-4 Skyhawk with an AA-2 'Atoll' short-range AAM.
Maj Gen. Mordechai Hod endorsed an aerial ambush in the area of operations of the Soviet interceptors, so as to tech them a lesson in who they were dealing with!
The IAF ambush was made up of three four-ship Mirage IIIC formations and a single four-ship F-4E Phantom II formation – all piloted by the finest IAF fighter pilots.
Four Mirage III's were to fly very close formation – so as to appear as a standard and known two-ship IAF Mirage III recon mission, over the area were Soviet-piloted MiG-21's were known to operate.
But these were not recce Mirage III's – for each was a pair of fully-armed Mirage IIIC fighters.
The Soviet's fell into the trap, scrambling four four-ship formations of their latest and most advanced MiG-21MF's in succession, to intercept the IAF recce flight.
But in fact the interceptors would become the intercepted!
In the dogfight that followed, five MiG-21MF's were shot down.
Of the Soviet pilots only one managed to eject safely, while the remaining four died in the action.


So where does this story go from here?
What profiles can we get from this?
Does Israel's political system give the IDF the green light to attack Soviet SAM sites? And if so how do they do it?
How does the IAF counter the overflights of its nuclear facility?
What else will the Soviet's deploy?
How will the United States react?
How will this shape the future of the IDF?
Who does the French support in arms?


M.A.D

[tahsin]

In the next engagement Foxbats shoot down the USAF crewed Phantoms , North Vietnam steps up operations even the Easter Invasion comes forward . USN succeeds in continious mention of the Liberty incident .

[MAD]

In the next engagement Foxbats shoot down the USAF crewed Phantoms , North Vietnam steps up operations even the Easter Invasion comes forward . USN succeeds in continuous mention of the Liberty incident .

Thanks Tashin - are you saying that North Vietnam takes full advantage of the Middle East crisis and goes for broke?
Is the USAF Phantom II shot down by PVO Foxbat over Israeli or Egyption territory?

M.A.D