Chapter 2: Operation Babylon

  June 17, 1981, at 3:50 pm, Etzion Airbase in the Sinai Peninsula.

  Triangular wings, all-moving horizontal tail, single vertical tail, single engine, large abdominal air intake, wing-body fusion layout, parked on the runway, is one of Israel's most advanced and the world's most advanced fighter jets: F-16 Fighting Falcon.

  Sitting in the spacious bubble cockpit, Zeyv-Raz "lay" on the flight seat, carefully checking all the instruments.

  Raz is the commander of 117th Fighter Squadron, started to fly F-16, Raz immediately fell in love with this plane, compared to the previous F-4 Phantom, one is a highway's Mercedes-Benz, another is a farm's hand-held tractor.

  Unlike all the fighter jets, F-16 is Chapter 2 of the echo, and it's even harder to detect. Only by relying on advanced electronic technology can the clutter be filtered out, and the stealthy flying aircraft can be displayed.

  In this regard, the US technology is still the most advanced. When a fleet of planes raided a nuclear reactor, an E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft imported from the United States was circling in Israeli airspace to provide information support.

  The yellow sand on the ground was almost visible, and all around were dunes of the same color. In this situation, like flying at sea level, it's easy to get an illusion, and if you're not careful, it's a disaster. The way to overcome this is through strict training. Those who participated in this operation were all elite pilots who had participated in several air battles.

  Eight F-16 fighter jets, flying in a tight formation, would be mistaken for a large aircraft even if detected by long-range radar. Dense formations are also a test of flight skills and a very practical way of formation flying.

  Nahum's wingman was Lt. Col. Iftach Spector, Israel's ace of aces, who had become an ace by downing five enemy planes in dogfights. Iftach, naturally gifted, did not belong to Nahum's squadron. A lieutenant colonel, Iftach commanded the airbase where Israel's F-16s were stationed and outranked all members of the operational team.

  When he learned that two top flight squadrons were to carry out the bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor, Ivry was excited and insisted on participating in the air raid mission, even if not as the commander of the operation. To achieve his wish, he even bypassed Raz and Air Force Commander Eitan and went directly to Rafael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces. After repeated requests, Eitan eventually replaced one of the original pilots with Ivry.

  However, unfortunately, Yevtushenko contracted the flu yesterday, which is not allowed to fly for pilots who need to make intense physical exertion. In order to participate in this action, Yevtushenko concealed his illness of influenza.

  Now, Yevtychik had a runny nose, fortunately in low altitude, the oxygen mask was removed, otherwise the snot would flow into the oxygen mask and block the air inlet, causing big trouble for himself. He stabilized the control stick with his right hand and skillfully wiped his nose with his left hand.

  For concealment, radio silence was maintained throughout the flight, and the pilots flew over Saudi Arabia along a route they had memorized in advance.

  Two 1,200-liter wing drop tanks and an 800-liter belly drop tank were quickly consumed, and over the uninhabited Nefud Desert, Razak jettisoned the drop tanks.

  Three glittering auxiliary fuel tanks fell into the desert under the illumination of the western sun.

  In low-altitude flight, the external fuel tank produces a lot of air resistance. After dropping the external fuel tank, Raz felt that the plane suddenly became lighter and without pushing the throttle stick, the speed reached 0.8 Mach.

  Captain Ilan Ramon, following Yiftach, was amazed to discover that the ace pilot had forgotten to jettison his external fuel tanks. Did he intend to drop them on top of the nuclear reactor as well?

  To maintain radio silence, Raymond didn't speak, his left hand pushed the throttle lever flat, while his right hand gently pushed the control stick to the right. At the same time, his right foot stepped on the rudder, and the F-16 under his hands turned obediently to the right, catching up with Yiftach.

  Raymond in the bubble canopy, looking at the Ivfatch flying with him, stretched out his left thumb, thought for a moment, then moved the control stick to the left and right, the F-16 fluttered like a light swallow.

  Yiftach couldn't understand Ramon's actions, was the long-distance flight too boring? Why didn't he keep formation? It wasn't until he saw under Ramon's wing that it dawned on him: he had forgotten to drop his auxiliary fuel tanks!

  Ivanchuk stretched out his hand and flipped a switch on the left-hand panel; three auxiliary fuel tanks obediently dropped away.

  Lei Meng took a deep breath and said, "The ace pilot, how could he do something so sloppy? If we can get back this time, I'll definitely make fun of him."

  As the eighth fighter to attack, eight people joked together last night. If sacrificed, Raymond's possibility is the greatest. However, Raymond still took on the role of the rearguard without hesitation, not because his rank was the lowest, but because he was not yet married, and he conscientiously undertook this mission.

  Suddenly, a burst of noisy wireless sound came from the internationally used response channel, "Eight airspace, eight airspace has an airplane, please report its origin." The English was poor.

  Bad, was discovered by Saudi Arabia's long-range radar.

  "Routine training exercise of the Jordanian Air Force." Razz replied fluently in English.

  Saudi air traffic controllers believed it was true, as Saudi Arabia and Jordan have always had a good relationship, and planes occasionally entering the country's airspace is a common occurrence.

  At 5:10 pm, the aircraft successfully entered Iraqi airspace from the southwestern border adjacent to Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

  To maintain stealth, eight F-16s and six F-15s descended again to thirty meters' super-low altitude, heading for the Osirak reactor south of Baghdad.

  Operation Babylon is about to sound in the skies of Iraq. The eyes of all Israel are focused on several long-range fighter jets.