Israel: The Soviet Squadron

Over the Suez Canal one day last week, Israeli pilots angled in to shoot up Egyptian positions in what has become an almost daily operation. When the Egyptians retaliated by sending planes across the canal, Israeli antiaircraft gunners shot down one plane and an Israeli pilot bagged another. The two represented the 59th and 60th Israeli kills of Egyptian aircraft since the Six-Day War in 1967, against claimed Israeli losses on the Egyptian front of only eight of their own planes.

One reason for the uneven score may be what Israeli pilots proudly refer to as their “Soviet Squadron.” The squadron includes three MIG-17s and one MIG-21. Two of the 17s were set down in Israel by blundering Syrian pilots. The third was shot down and repaired with parts from other downed MIG-17s. The faster MIG-21 was flown to Israel by an Iraqi pilot paid to defect by Israeli intelligence. Israeli pilots study and fly all four planes to learn their characteristics.

The Soviet squadron includes a fifth plane—the prize of the lot. The Israelis have captured, virtually intact, a sweptwing, Soviet-made Sukhoi-7, the basic Soviet tactical attack aircraft. It is the first Sukhoi to fall into Western hands—and its capture is a coup of considerable significance. The Israelis acquired the Sukhoi as the result of sheer luck. Its Egyptian pilot bailed out after the plane was hit over the Giddi Pass in Sinai. The Sukhoi then made an unbelievably smooth belly landing in the soft, flat sand. Trucked away under camouflage nets, it was quickly made flightworthy. Israeli pilots who have flown it find that the Sukhoi reaches a Mach 1.6 speed, climbs at the rate of 23,500 ft. per min. and can carry 3.5 tons of ordnance.

Israeli commanders believe that the Soviet Squadron serves a vital purpose beyond familiarizing pilots with their enemies’ planes. The Israelis have been so successful in capturing enemy equipment, which Westerners get to see, that the Soviets may well be loath to put their most sophisticated weaponry into Arab hands.