Publication: Air Power History
Publication Date: 22-SEP-04
Format: Online - approximately 6128 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Brugioni, Dino A.
Article Excerpt
The origins of the Yom Kippur War of October 1973 may be traced to the Suez Crisis in 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized U-2 flights over the Middle East. By the onset of the June 1967 Six-Day War, the United States had acquired a significant amount of aerial and satellite imagery over "targets" in that area.
The CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) had an experienced and dedicated complement of imagery intelligence officers, capable of melding the imagery derived with collateral information to produce accurate and timely intelligence reporting.
After the Six-Day War, the NPIC published a special detailed Middle East edition of a KH-4 satellite mission. The mission reflected the extensive damage the Israelis had inflicted on their Arab foes. A total of 246 destroyed aircraft were imaged in three countries 202 in Egypt, 26 in Syria, and 18 in Jordan. (1)
The few surviving combat aircraft were later seen at Aswan, Luxor, and smaller airfields in southern Egypt--beyond the range of the Israeli aircraft. Both the Egyptians and Syrians realized they were extremely vulnerable to Israeli air strikes and turned to the Soviet Union for help. The Soviets replaced the aircraft destroyed on a more than one-to-one basis. New aircraft included large numbers of MiG-21s, SU-7s, and replacements for the IL-28 bombers lost during the war. At main Arab airfields, we noted the construction of hangarettes, which would complicate our efforts to provide good air-order-of-battle counts.
Four high flying MiG-25 Foxbats were identified near one of the hangarettes. From various sources, it was known that they were piloted by Soviets. Attaches noted camera ports on one of the Foxbats in flight, indicating that the Soviets were probably conducting reconnaissance missions for the Egyptians. Pat Ashburn, one of our interpreters familiar with Israeli airfields, found something very interesting. At several Israeli airfields, obvious targets for MiG-25 reconnaissance, there was always an armed Phantom fighter on alert. On several occasions, we learned that when there was a MiG-25 recon flight, the Phantoms would be gone. We later learned the Israelis had desperately tried to intercept the MiG-25 with zoom climbs and firing air-to-air missiles. None, however, were successful.
The greatest Soviet contribution to the Arabs, however, was a massive effort to install an elaborate air defense network consisting of SA-2, SA-3, and SA-6 surface-to-air missiles. The Israelis were extremely interested in what was happening in Egypt, but when they sent out their reconnaissance aircraft, they were met with a volley of SAMs. Along with the latest anti-aircraft weapons, an impressive aerial umbrella had been established along the Suez Canal.
To make the Israeli reconnaissance efforts more difficult, the Egyptians, probably with Soviet help, began playing a shell game with the missile sites. One day an SA-2 missile site would be observed, the next day its equipment had been moved out. The following day SA-3 equipment would be installed. Our reporting of this activity caused confusion in the intelligence community and also with Secretary of State William Rogers, who was advocating his Middle East peace plan. John Hicks, NPIC's Executive Officer, asked me to prepare a briefing for the Secretary. The NPIC auditorium was the site of the briefing and through photos and maps we were able to show how the sites were being changed and how difficult it was to have an up-to-the-minute situation report on the sites. Secretary. Rogers was extremely pleased with our effort; Hicks later sent me this note, "Your personal direction and organization of the effort to serve the needs of the Secretary of State on Monday 14 September '70 were notably effective. Many NPICers participated and contributed to the useful efforts, but your particular leadership was a key contribution in meeting the secretary's need." Secretary Rogers said that the Israelis had lost a number of their best reconnaissance pilots.
Another effort at the NPIC concerned the amount of new military equipment the Soviets were providing their clients to replace and upgrade that destroyed during the 1967 war. The old T-34 tanks were replaced with T-54, T-55 and T-62 tanks. New BRDM armored-personnel-carriers, along with some of the newer artillery pieces, were spotted being unloaded at the port of Alexandria and later deployed along the Canal. The latest Soviet bridging equipment was also seen along with hundreds of new cargo trucks.
The intelligence community estimated that there were at least 30,000 Soviet technicians in Egypt before they were expelled by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat in July 1972. The Soviets had been involved in every aspect of Egypt military activity from command and control to the training of Egyptian conscripts. The ouster of the Soviets came as a surprise to the U.S. intelligence community. We had observed, however, there was a notable slowdown of Soviet military shipments. Sadat, in his biography, asserted that no war could be fought while the Soviet experts were in Egypt. Another, and probably better reason, according to Sadat, was that the Soviet experts "had begun to feel that it enjoyed a privileged position in Egypt--so much so that the Soviet ambassador had assumed a position comparable to that of the British High Commissioner in the days of British occupation of Egypt." (2)
After the 1967 war, we also watched the Israelis build the Bar-Lev Line along the east bank of the Suez Canal. The line was an enormously fortified artificial sand barrier that ranged from 30 to 60 feet high and about 30 feet wide. Millions of sandbags and miles of concertina wire were also employed along the Canal. We saw hundreds of large galvanize pipe sections being brought from Israel to the Line. Covered with sand, they would form...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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