ATTACK ON OSIRAQ

Amos Yadlin dropped the nose of his heavily loaded F-16 straight down the “chute” out of the setting sun at 480 knots.  The 30-foot arching dome of Saddam Hussein’s nearly completed nuclear reactor Osiraq (a contraction of the name of the French-built Osiris reactor and Iraq) loomed ahead.  The marker on his “heads-up” display tracked along the bombing line closer and closer to the “death dot” release point.  Through 5000, 4500, then 4000 feet the altimeter needle steadily dropped.  Threat receivers blared; outside the canopy the dome of the reactor grew larger.  After a seeming eternity the plane reached 3500 feet, the HUD centered, and Yadlin pickled the red release button.  Two 2000-pound “dumb” bombs fell away and Yadlin threw his stick hard left.  The F-16 banked sharply, his G-suit ballooned, and the afterburner pressed him against his seat.  To the rear, both bombs smashed through the cement shell of the reactor and disappeared inside.

Seven more Israeli F-16s, newly acquired only months before from the US, streaked down the same flight path after Yadlin.  Each drilled two more 2000-pound bombs into the target.  In moments the delay fuses on the bombs activated, and the entire nuclear reactor disintegrated in a crumbling mass of smoke, flame, dust, and debris.  Iraqi AAA and SA-7 SAMS cris-crossed the sky, but none found their mark.  The eight F-16s had made a harrowing take-off from Etizon AFB in the Sinai, overloaded beyond the manufacturer’s capacity, and had streaked across the Saudi and Iraqi desert at 360 knots and 100 feet.  In the days before “smart” bombs and GPS, the Israeli pilot’s technical skill, navigation, and bombing accuracy were fantastically successful.  The reactor was a complete loss.

Newly finished Osiraq was set to “go hot” that month.  Hussein had acquired the reactor from France in a deal that paid President Jacques Chirac’s government 200% of the asking price.  Included in the deal were 72 kilograms of highly enriched weapons-grade Uranium-235.  Iraq’s secretary general of Atomic Energy, Dr. Moyesser al-Mallah, and chief nuclear scientists Khidhir Hamza and Husham Sharif have since confirmed they were under an order from the “Great Uncle” Saddam to use the plant to produce nuclear weapons that would end the Iran-Iraq war and wreak havoc on Zionist Israel.

How is this Israeli Operation “Opera” attack relevant to American history?  In the pre-9/11 days the pre-emptive strike was a viewed as too risky an option for the United States.  Indeed, it was not until the National Security Strategies of the George W. Bush administration that the pre-emptive strike became an accepted tool in our national defense.  Operation “Opera” is credited with significant influence on the development of Bush’s policy—one that is continued today in the Donald J. Trump administration.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 12 JUN 26

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Claire, Rodger W.  Raid on the Sun.  New York, NY: Broadway Books, 2004.

McKinnon, Dan.  Bullseye One Reactor.  San Diego, CA: House of Hits. 1987.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The eight Israeli pilots who executed this daring mission were the cream of the Israeli Defense Force.  Seven of the eight were still alive in 2004 when Rodger Claire’s book above was published.  Only Ilan Ramon had passed away–selected to be one of Israel’s first astronauts, he was tragically lost 1 February 2003 aboard the American space shuttle COLUMBIA which broke up on re-entry.

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