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Expanded the Israel portion, reformatted
==Phantoms over Israel==
==Phantoms over Israel==
The Phantom was first acquired by the Israeli Defense Forces in September 1969, and 67 days later, the F-4 saw aerial combat with the Israelis for the first time, when a Phantom crew shot down an Egyptian Mig-21. Phantoms took part in the War of Attrition, the [[Yom Kippur War]] (suffering heavy losses), and the 1982 war in Lebanon. The Phantom was used mainly as a fighter-bomber, although Israeli F-4s scored a total of 116.5 air-to-air kills.[http://home.att.net/~jBaugher1/f4_41.html] The Israeli name for the F-4 was the ''Kurnass'' (sledgehammer).<ref>''Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces'', by Shlomo Aloni, Osprey Publishing, 2004</ref>
The Phantom was first acquired by the Israeli Defense Forces in September 1969. Phantoms took part in the [[War of Attrition]], the [[Yom Kippur War]] (suffering heavy losses), and the 1982 war in [[Lebanon]]. The Phantom was used mainly as a fighter-bomber, although Israeli F-4s scored a total of 116.5 air-to-air kills.[http://home.att.net/~jBaugher1/f4_41.html] The Israeli name for the F-4 was the ''Kurnass'' (sledgehammer).
===War of Attrition===
Phantoms were thrown into combat almost as soon as they arrived. In late 1969, Israel was in middle of a conflict with [[Egypt]] that would later be known as the [[War of Attrition]]. The first Phantoms arrived on Sept 5, 1969, and the first operational mission of the Kurnass was a month and a half later, on October 22. The plane scored its first aerial victory for Israel three weeks later, when a Phantom of the 201 Squadron downed an Egyptian Mig-21 while on a combat air patrol.[http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/Kills/FirstDown.IN.aspx?lang=EN&lobbyID=43&folderID=43&subfolderID=293&docfolderID=293&docID=1249&docType=ARTICLE]
One of the more prominent Phantom missions during the War of Attrition was on May 16, 1970. Eight F-4s, led by [[Six Day War]] veteran Aharon “Yalo” Shavit, flew to the Egyptian port of Ras Banas and sank an Egyptian destroyer in retaliation for the sinking of an Israeli patrol boat a few days earlier. It was the longest-range fighter-bomber mission taken by the IAF up to that time. Phantoms were also extensively used against Egyptian SAM sites that year in what became known as Electronic Summer, in Wild Weasel-type missions using tactics developed by American pilots in the [[Vietnam War]].
The War of Attrition ended with a negotiated ceasefire in August. Half a dozen Phantoms had been lost to SAMs and anti-aircraft fire, and IAF Phantoms had shot down six Egyptian aircraft (five Mig-21s and an Ilyushin jet bomber).
===The Yom Kippur War===
When the Egyptian and [[Syria]]n air forces attacked on October 6, 1973, Israeli Phantoms bore the brunt of the initial strikes. Kurness units were hard-pressed, but scored 23 air-to-air victories that day, over a quarter of their total for the entire conflict. In what was probably the first aerial battle of the war, two Kurnass crews from 119 Squadron defended their base from 28 Migs, destroying six Mig-17s and a Mig-21 between them. However, the other attackers managed to get through and bomb the base, cratering the runway and damaging facilities. Other Phantoms were scrambled to blunt the Arab ground advance, but ten of them were lost to SAMs and anti-aircraft fire in the first few hours. The F-4 made its biggest contribution for the day after dusk. With light fading, the Egyptians sent several Mi-8 helicopters loaded with commandos into the Sinai in an attempt to cause havoc in the Israeli rear areas. Two of these raids were smashed by Phantoms that shot down fourteen helicopters in all. One Kurnass crew accounted for five Mi-8s by themselves. IAF Mirages arrived later and destroyed more of the raiders.
Israeli commanders were confused at first by the sudden attack, so counterstrikes by the IAF over the next couple of days met with mixed success. Kurnasses shot down four Egyptian Mig-21s for no loss on the morning of October 7, but an attack on Syrian air defenses that afternoon was ineffective and cost the Israelis six more precious Phantoms. Another four were lost the next day (including one in air-to-air combat). In less than 72 hours, Israel had lost approximately one fifth of its Kurnass force and over a tenth of its Kurnass aircrews.
By the end of Day Four, however, the situation had stabilized. The Egyptian and Syrian offensives had been halted, and the IAF was able to poke holes in the SAM nets through which to attack. The F-4s were still hard-pressed, but only three were lost over the next four days. Over the same period, Kurnass crews shot down twelve Mig-21s and one Mig-17. Most of the fighting at this time took place over the Syrian front. After the first week of the war, the United States initiated Operation Nickel Grass, an emergency resupply program for Israel that replaced the planes lost in combat. When the war ended two weeks later, Israel, and its Kurnass force, was battered but still intact. In addition to the literally hundreds of ground targets destroyed, Israeli Phantoms shot down 85 Arab combat aircraft, mostly Mig-21s, for a kill-loss ratio in aerial combat of 17-1 during the war.<ref>This is particularly impressive considering that in most situations, Mig-21 air defense fighters were intercepting bomb-laden Phantoms. IAF Mirages had a similar kill ratio for the YKW, but most of their victories were in situations where Mirages on air defense intercepted bomb-laden Migs</ref>
===Post-Yom Kippur===
After the war ended, tensions were still high, and Phantoms saw combat again in the following year over both the Sinai and the Golan Heights, including aerial contests that ended with four Migs shot down. When Israel bought its first [[F-15 Eagle]]s in 1976, the Kurnass was edged out of the air-to-air niche, and Kurnass crews only scored two and a half more aerial victories after the Eagle was introduced. However, the Phantom’s role was expanded with the acquisition of RF-4Es for reconnaissance. Israeli Phantoms were heavily involved in the fighting in Lebanon in 1982, successfully attacking several Syrian SAM sites and PLO facilities.
By the mid-1980s, the Phantom was starting to get a little long in the tooth compared to the F-15, [[F-16]], and the newer Migs in service at the time with many Arab air forces. The Kurnass 2000 project was initiated to give the Phantom a new lease on life, and 130 planes were re-equipped with new avionics and modifications to the hydraulic and fuel systems. Kurnass 2000s have seen action in Lebanon.
==Notes==
<references/>
==Sources==
===Israel===
*''Rolling Thunder: Jet Combat from World War II to the Gulf War'', by Ivan Rendall, Dell Publishing, 1997
*''Israeli F-4 Phantom II Aces'', by Shlomo Aloni, Osprey Publishing, 2004
*[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/phantom.html JewishVirtualLibrary: F-4 Phantom II]
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