JUNE 8 TO 10, 1967 { LAST DAYS SORTIES }

The operational activities of the Vautours, during the last three days, were mainly :
1) Attacking the Syrian army, at the Golan Heights and futher east, in order to destroy the invador's power and force it to retreat.
2) Photo-Recconaissance and EW/ECM sorties all over the three fronts.

* Data for these operations is very partial. I could find only fragments of details.

LIST OF SORTIES:

@ June 8
• Attack, Syria. A formation led by [ R. Goren + O. Erez, N 62 ]
• Attack, Golan Heights. A formation [ L. Tzur , A 18 ] [ O. Nachman A 12 ] and [ ? ], duration: 35 min.
• Another attack, a formation ? [ O. Nachman A 03 ] and [ ? ]
• ECM mission, Egypt. [Y. Tsiddon + O. Erez N 70], duration: 2 h.
• ECM mission, Syria ?, [Y. Tsiddon + O. Erez N 70], duration: 55 min.
• PR mission, One BR, Target and details n.a.

@ June 9
• Attack, Syria. A formation [ led by Y. Tsiddon + O. Erez N 66 ], and probably, also [ O. Nachman A 03 ]. duration: 45 min. It is likely that the leader also photoed the attack area.
• Attack, Golan Heights. A formation? [ L. Tzur + U. Talmor, N 62 ] and _ ? .
• Attack, Golan Heights. A formation? [ L. Tzur A 17 ] and _? .
• Attack, Golan Heights. A formation? [ O. Nachman A 03 ] and _?. duration: 35 min.
• { It's possible that two of the above attacks coincide }
• ECM mission, Golan Heights. [Y. Tsiddon + O. Erez N 70], duration: 45 min.
• PR mission, One BR, Syria. Details n.a.

@ June 10
• Attack, Syria. A pair? [ L. Tzur + O. Erez, N 62 ] and [ O. Nachman ? A, 17 or A 12 ], duration: 35 min.
• Attack, Syria. A pair? [ Z. Tavor + O. Erez, N 66 ] and [ O. Nachman ?, A 17 or A 12 ], duration: 35 min.
• Attack, Golan Heights. A formation of ? [ L. Tzur, A 03 ] and _? .
• Attack, Golan Heights, Syrian artillery. A pair [ L. Tzur, A 18, Y. Tsiddon ]
• PR mission, One BR, Syria. Details n.a.
• ECM mission, [Y. Tsiddon + O. Erez N 70] {the last sortie of Yoash Tsiddon in this war }.
• ECM mission. [ Z. Tavor + O. Erez, N 70 ].
  Route: Along the coast line, South - North - South.
  Landed at sunset, just a few minutes before ceasefire. Last sortie of the war.

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SUMMARY, IN BRIEF

1) The Vautours "fulfilled" their promise, expected for almost a decade, to render the IAF its "long arm" for attack and aerial intelligence.
2) A small number of these extraordinary aircraft (much less than any other fighters' inventory), did most significant jobs - destroying enemy fields, airplanes, A-A guns, SAM systems, radars, artillery batteries, fortified posts, installations; supporting ground forces; jamming communications and supplying immediate photographic intelligence. !
3) These tasks were performed with little casualties. Unfortunately two crewmen were killed in action and two others captured. Four Vautours were lost but many others survived hits and landed (with the aid of the highly skilled pilots). At the end of the war only four Vautours stayed in repairs for a short time.
4) The survivalability of the Vautours, as compared to other types, was substantially better.
* Combat survivalability is measured by the formula, for n sorties: { SUM (n) of (armament load x range of action) / (lost aircraft) ; ( armament in tons, range in thousands of km. ). [ by Yoash Tsiddon ]
5) {more to be added...}

June 7, 1967

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