Operation “Rooster”
(December 1969)
The War of
Attrition raged along the Suez canal from the end of the Six
Day War in 1967 until a ceasefire agreement in 1970. The Egyptian
military effort was supported by Soviet shipments of military equipment
which was of great interest to Israeli
intelligence. The IDF had used equipment captured during the Six
Day War to better deal with enemy threats, using captured radars
to learn the weaknesses of the Egyptian air defence and to develop electronic
warfare methods. The aqcuired knowledge was of great value and gave
the IAF the
edge over enemy air defences, yet by 1969 it was becoming apparent that
electronic warfare and other methods used to trick Egyptian radars were
becoming less effective and that Israeli operations were being hampered
by earlier detection of incoming aircraft.
Newer radars had obviously arrived in Egypt and an effort was under way to learn how to deal with this new threat.
The break came after an air defence array destroyed during a september
1969 armour raid came back on line in a different configuration, much
harder to penetrate. (the armour raid had actually used captured Soviet
tanks and armored personnel carriers to operate an entire day inside
Egyptian territory.) Reconaissance missions were quickly launched to
photograph the new air defence array and soon enough a new P-12 Sovier
radar was located on the beach of Ras-Arab. The immediate response was
to destroy the new radar station with an aerial strike, but the attacking
aircraft were stopped shortly before takeoff when an idea to capture
the entire installation came up.
Nicknamed “Rooster-53,” the operation was
planned in just a few days, beginning on December 24. After getting
approvement from the IDF chain of command, the details and mechanics of the operation were soon
ironed out and the forces involved began their training on radars captured
during the Six Day War.
The helicopters selected to carry the radar station to Israeli territory
were the new Sikorsky CH-53 Yasur which had only arrived in Israel shortly
before. These were the only helicopters deemed capable of carrying the
entire radar station, estimated at 7 tons.
The operation was finally launched at 21:00 on the
eve of December 26, 1969. A-4 Skyhawks and F-4
Phantoms began attacking Egyptian forces along the western bank
of the Suez canal and Red Sea. Hidden by the noise of the attacking
jets, three Aerospatiale Super Frelons, carrying Israeli paratroops,
made their way west towards their target. Making their approach carefully
in order not to be spotted beforehand, the troops surprised the light
security contingent at the radar installation and quickly took control
of the site. By 02:00, December 27, when the paratroops had taken apart
the radar station and prepared the various parts for the CH-53s, the
two Yasurs were called in from across the Red Sea. One CH-53 carried
the communications caravan and the radar antenna, while the other took
the heavier, four-ton radar itself. The two helicopters started making
their way back across the Red Sea to Israeli controlled territory.
The four-ton radar caravan was actually heavier than
the CH-53 was designed to carry and soon endangered the safe completion
of the operation. The cables connecting the radar to the helicopter
were streching the ribs of the aircraft which in turn caused a hydrolic
pipeline to rupture. Faced with either releasing the radar or loosing
control of the aircraft and crashing, the captain of the helicopter
managed to cross the water line into Israel. With the last of its Hydrolic
pressure, the Helicopter set down the radar and landed besides it. The
second CH-53 which had already arrived with its lighter load, was sent
back to retrieve the radar from the crash landing site. Once again the
heavy load almost caused the helicopter to crash but the radar was finally
delivered to the designated point, into the hands of awaiting intelligence
specialists.
Although an attempt was made to conceal the mission
and its success, the operation was made public a week after it took
place following its publication in foreign press. The radar itself was
studied thoroughly and provided the IAF with new countermeasures against
the Egyptian air defences, removing a threat to Israeli air superiority
over the Suez Canal. It was later handed over to the USA, the same as
other equipment captured before.
Sources: The
Israeli Air Force, IDF/AF |