On December 26, 1969, an elite Israeli commando unit known as the "Wild Boy" carried out an infiltration and sabotage operation code-named "God Mouse", the purpose of which was not to make the other side's altar jars and cans mess up and stir up the sky, but to steal the latest anti-aircraft radar in the defense of the Egyptian army, and to airlift the radar equipment weighing up to 7 tons back to China. This is both an act that is contrary to the world and an impossible task.
Operational background
After the Second Middle East War in 1956, on the surface, it seemed that there was a period of relative peace in the Middle East, but it was not. Behind the scenes of seeming peace, the United States and the Soviet Union have continuously intensified their contention in the Middle East, making various contradictions in the region increasingly acute and complex, and conflicts of interest becoming more and more intense.
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the United States being deeply involved in the Vietnam battlefield, gradually turned defensive into offensive, stepped up the competition with the United States in the Middle East, and provided a large number of advanced weapons in addition to providing economic assistance to Egypt. On the one hand, the United States has exerted pressure on Arab countries, and on the other hand, it has stepped up its support and arming of Israel, which has greatly strengthened Israel's military strength, increased the number of weapons on both sides, and strengthened its ability to compete and safeguard their respective interests.
In May 1967, the Arab and Israeli sides in some critical directions, the war preparations escalated, Israel deliberately leaked that it had gathered forces on the Syrian-Israeli border, ready to launch an attack on Syria on May 17, the Soviet side received the news, immediately informed Egypt. The Egyptian side "preferred to believe in what it had, not believe in its non-existence" and quickly sent two divisions of troops to the Sinai Peninsula, and at the same time issued a war mobilization order.
On the 19th, Israel issued a partial mobilization order to gather troops on the Sinai Peninsula. The next day, Egypt blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba in order to condemn Egypt's actions as an act of aggression against Israel and claimed military action; On the one hand, the Soviet Union used Egypt to oppose the United States and Israel, and on the other hand, based on its own interests, it conducted secret contacts with the United States in an attempt to ease the tension at that time.
On the 26th, Israel deliberately informed the United States that Egypt was preparing to attack Israel, and the United States immediately relayed the news to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union demanded that Egypt exercise restraint, and Egypt immediately said that it would never shoot the first shot.
Unexpectedly, however, Israel preemptively launched a large-scale surprise attack on Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan in the early morning of June 5, 1967. By the evening, Israel had launched four airstrikes against arab countries, and soon after the airstrikes, Israeli ground forces began a major offensive against the Arab countries.
Soon it occupied the Gaza Strip and entered arish, Abu Ogra and other places in the Sinai Peninsula. Subsequently, the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula was completely annihilated by the Israeli army, and advanced to the east bank of the Suez Canal, and the Sinai Peninsula was completely occupied by the Israeli army.
Shortly after the attack on Egypt, the Israeli army launched another attack on Jordan. As of 7 June, Israeli forces had occupied all areas under Jordanian jurisdiction in Jenin, Nablus, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
On the 9th, Israel launched another large-scale attack on Syria, occupying most of the Golan Heights and several major roads leading to Damascus on the 10th, and seizing the oil pipeline to Lebanon. On the 11th, Syria and Israel signed a ceasefire agreement, and at this point, the third Middle East war was over.
In this war, Israel not only quadrupled its territory, but also inflicted heavy damage on the military forces of several surrounding Arab countries. During this period, the Israeli Air Force conducted rapid combat operations, with fierce offensives and remarkable results. More than 400 Egyptian warplanes were destroyed within hours of the war, nearly 800 tanks and armored vehicles were captured by Ground Forces, while the Arabs suffered heavy losses, killing tens of thousands of casualties, but also occupied by Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights.
1 million Arabs have been forced to flee their homes and become refugees.
Israel's glorious victory, on the other hand, has also intensified the anti-Israel sentiment and retaliation mentality of the Arab countries. This war in the Middle East caused heavy losses not only to the Arab countries, but also to the loss of soviet interests. And to a certain extent, the Soviet Union was "led by the nose" by the United States and Israel.
For the Soviet Union, this mouthful of gas was also difficult to swallow. As a result, Ah Yi fought incessantly, and the big battles continued; Regardless of time and place, unscrupulous means and methods have made it difficult for Israel to sleep and eat, and even more to make the entire Middle East unstable.
In view of the rapid recovery of air strike power by the adversary with the support and help of the Soviet Union and the threat to Israel, the most convenient and effective means of eliminating the threat from the air, of course, is also the air force, but also to strive to destroy the opponent's aircraft on their own tarmac.
In the early morning of November 1, 1969, Israel dispatched a number of fighters and bombers to launch air strikes on Egypt's military airfields, with the intention of eliminating dozens of new Soviet-made fighters parked at the airports in a surprise attack.
At exactly two o'clock in the morning, the group of fighters and bombers began to deploy tactically according to the scheduled plan, and was preparing to launch a surprise attack, but unexpectedly they were suddenly hit head-on by the surface-to-air missiles of the Egyptian army. By the time the command post was ordered to return, there were few planes left to return to the base. This was an unprecedented and tragic defeat for the Israeli Air Force.
The defeat of the Israeli air force in the sneak attack is undoubtedly revenge and hatred for Egypt and the Arab world.
For Israel, however, the whole country was stunned, the government and the opposition were angry, and Israeli Prime Minister Gorda Meir was even more anxious and vicious, because the failure of the sneak attack not only shook the people's hearts, but also seriously affected the invincible morale of the Israeli army.
Meir
Prime Minister Meyer asked the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Staff, the Minister of Intelligence and the Director of the Special Missions Bureau to find out the situation quickly at all costs.
Immediately, the highly efficient Intelligence and Special Missions Bureau was put into operation, and groups of shrewd and capable agents were sent to Egypt and where The Upper Peak thought they should go, through all possible channels, using all necessary means, in an effort to obtain convincing answers in the shortest possible time.
Soon, intelligence from all sides began to flow back to Israel, and the CIA urgently provided Israel with the latest information such as satellite pictures of Egypt's air defense system. Intelligence shows that Egypt has formed a tight air defense network along the Suez Canal and its depths, and the new II.-12 anti-air alert radar introduced from the Soviet Union can monitor the flight activities of any airfield in the face of the Israeli Air Force.
In other words, the Israeli fleet flew together and was already targeted by the Egyptian radar.
In the Third Middle East War, Israel's air force launched a surprise attack on the enemy's airfield, destroying almost all the combat aircraft of Egypt and other countries in the rear of the airfield and runway, and then for the next six days, it always maintained air superiority over the Arab side, covering the ground forces to seize Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and other places.
In order to protect their territory, safeguard the dignity of national sovereignty, completely eliminate Israel's military superiority, especially air superiority, and give full play to the role of their own aircraft, The Arab countries, which have suffered heavy losses, have done a great deal of preparatory work in the past two years.
Egyptian President Nasser and others, at the expense of huge amounts of foreign exchange, not only purchased advanced tanks, aircraft, artillery, and introduced advanced military technology, but also secretly bought back several of the latest long-range air-to-air warning radars from the Soviet Union.
It has the world's advanced level at that time, can prevent aircraft low-altitude penetration and sneak attack, and high power, high resolution, long detection distance, strong anti-jamming ability, not only can effectively monitor the activities of the Israeli Air Force at all times, but also can automatically guide aviation missiles, from a long distance to attack invading air targets.
Egypt has deployed this latest type of radar in shadwan Island, Port Said, and Port Rasgarib to facilitate surveillance, and has deployed this latest type of radar in an important position of air force activities, forming a strict air defense early warning network; as long as the enemy aircraft approaches, the radar will issue an alarm, and display the enemy aircraft's model, number, course, altitude, and other information on the fluorescent screen of the command headquarters for the reference of the commanders. At the same time, in order to prevent sneak attacks, the Egyptians on the one hand strengthened secrecy camouflage measures, and on the other hand, increased the number of guards in each radar position. These pose a great threat to the Israeli Air Force.
Egypt's new radar has become the most troubled heart disease of the Israeli authorities, because in the past Middle East wars, the reason why the Israeli military command has been able to boldly use troops and be comfortable is largely because it has an air force that can be trusted and relied on. But now that Egypt has laid a net of heaven and earth, and the Israeli army is still in the dark, it is no wonder that the night raid operation has failed miserably, which is a great challenge to the Israeli Air Force.
If the new Soviet-made radar equipped by Egypt and other Arab countries is not removed, Israel will be subject to the serious threat of its opponents, and Israeli Prime Minister Meir has always been awe-inspiring with a stronger will and more decisive style than men, and she immediately made a decision and immediately convened a special high-level meeting to study how to deal with Egyptian radar.
It was agreed that measures must be taken to destroy the Egyptian radar as soon as possible. Meier believes that since Egypt has deployed a warning radar, it must think of the possibility that Israel will use various means to reconnoiter its radar positions, and it must also think of the possibility of damage and blows. Therefore, its various preparations and measures to prevent strikes cannot be underestimated; Meir also believes that Egypt's radar is now officially operational, and Israel must also fully estimate the detection and detection capabilities of its radar.
If Israel had sent its air force to bomb as it had done in the past, it would have been spotted by radar and shot down by missiles before the planes had reached the radar station. If armored units are used to attack and strike radar stations in a ground-based maneuver, the distance is too far and the movement is too large to be effective.
As the leader of the country, Meir is also a person who has experienced war, and is very cautious and sophisticated in the use of military means of struggle, and Israel is a country with high frequency of special forces and efficient use of special means.
Controlling the core elements of the highest determination, the essentials of the scope of knowledge, Meir is also familiar with it. She finally decided to use the special forces "Desert Wild Boy" to secretly infiltrate Egypt and destroy the enemy's surveillance radar with extraordinary means.
"Desert Wild Boy" is the Israeli nickname for the first special forces, after the establishment of the state in May 1948, the Israeli provisional government announced the establishment of the IDF on the 26th. In December 1953, chief of the General Staff, Moses Dayan, decided that in order to build operational confidence throughout the army, the top priority was to establish an elite unit that was well trained to carry out counter-retaliatory operations deep behind enemy lines, and assigned Ariel Sharon, intelligence officer of the Northern Military District, to form a 60-man elite counter-guerrilla unit, code-named Unit 101.
The first Prime Minister Ben Gurion attaches great importance to the construction of this force, the charter salon in the whole army to select personnel, after strict assessment, layer by layer elimination, these volunteers who have served for more than two years can become special operations officers and soldiers, this is a new type of special operations force that perfectly integrates infantry attack ability and paratrooper mobility, at the beginning of its establishment, it became Israel's best "combat machine"
Not only do the special forces have Israel's most advanced weapons and equipment, but the level of combat skills of the troops is also very high.
Operational readiness
According to Meir's instructions, the "Wild Boy" special forces selected 50 elite commandos, together with 10 electronic experts selected from the Academy of Social Sciences to form a special commando codenamed "Divine Mouse", in order to cooperate with the operation, the air force also sent 3 combat aircraft and 1 large transport helicopter to form an air mobility detachment, and the target of the sneak attack was the radar station on Shad Bay Island in Egypt.
The plan of action is for commandos to take care of sneak attacks and cover, and electronic experts to disassemble radars. The operation was initially scheduled for mid-December.
The initial consideration of the operation was for the commandos to use blasting to directly destroy the Egyptian radar. The United States learned that Israel was preparing to attack soviet-made radars in Egypt, and specially sent someone to tell Meir that the United States hoped to "bring out" a complete set of radar equipment from Egypt for research. Meir agreed.
Based on United States satellite photographs and intelligence provided by intelligence agencies, Israel built a model of an Egyptian radar station in the desert area, and according to the plan, the simulation training was first carried out separately by commandos and electronic experts, followed by synthetic training in boarding, navigation, airborne landing, raids, dismantling and handling.
After more than a month, this special force, code-named "Divine Mouse," was trained in a top-secret environment, and the operational plan, plan, tactical and technical action, and the essentials of coordination and coordination, as well as the use of weapons and technical equipment, were almost familiar with it, grasped the key parts of the radar, set up timing devices, and carried out the essentials of sabotage.
A series of combat operation preparations were completed. However, the vigilance radar is not only large in size, the antenna alone is nearly 10 meters high, and all the equipment weighs six or seven tons, and it is difficult to decompose and carry and load in a short period of time. As a result, the Israeli side decided to postpone the scheduled attack again, so as to leave a certain amount of time for the special forces to further study, train and master the methods and technical and tactical processes of the radar.
The most prominent features of special operations are prudent strategic decision-making at the top and precise tactical implementation at the grass-roots level. After repeated and repeated training, the Israeli side decided to implement the action.
The battle begins
On the evening of December 25, 1969, two large aircraft, painted in light gray, earthy green and matte, without any markings, quietly flew out of a secret Israeli airfield on the Sinai Peninsula, used the cover of darkness as a cover, entered the skies over the Suez Canal, and traveled south along the Suez Canal, quickly disappearing into the night. The "Desert Wild Boy" was ordered to attack, and the "Divine Mouse" operation began.
The aircraft flew in the night sky, and for the sake of concealment, the lights were controlled, and even the navigation lights of the left red and right were not turned on, and radio silence was also implemented to minimize the danger of detection and detection.
The biggest danger of the operation is to be detected by Egyptian radar, especially on the west bank of the Suez Canal, what is the detection and detection capability of the Egyptian radar? This is still an unknown, if once it is discovered, do not say that the task is completed, before the radar position will be hit by a missile.
Approaching the Egyptian radar warning zone, the two aircraft pulled apart, repeatedly lowered their altitude, almost skimming the ground, and they headed south along the west side of the center of the Suez Canal, and according to the availability, the Egyptian radar low-altitude detection performance was quite good.
Of course, even the best radar has blind spots, flying at an altitude of only a few meters from the surface of the water, the echo displayed by the radar is likely to be judged to be a speedboat on the Suez Canal, and when the Raskarib radar station is directly to the right of the helicopter, the two helicopters suddenly turned 90 degrees to the right, with the shortest distance of heading straight to the Raskarib radar station.
The helicopter lightning swept over the barracks of the Egyptian guard unit and began to land in the open space not far from the radar position, and as soon as the hatch opened, the commando fish jumped out and rushed from the radar position in three directions. The driver sent a secret report to the command post as quickly as possible: "The God Mouse" has arrived at the target area.
The battle to wipe out the Egyptian guard forces took only 11 minutes, less than half an hour, and some members of the team, together with electronic experts, unloaded eight pieces of radar weighing nearly 7 tons, and the key and necessary equipment had been loaded with helicopters, and the rest were all blown up. Subsequently, the two helicopters began to retreat north by moonlight, and before dawn, the valuable new radar was recaptured back to Israel under the cover of the Air Force.
Because of the speed and concealment of the operation, another Egyptian guard unit less than three kilometers away from the radar station was completely unaware of this, and it was not until dawn that they found all the equipment of the radar station, and they did not know where they were going overnight, and even thought that they had shifted their positions at night.
Israeli experts conducted a systematic analysis of the recovered Soviet-made radar, obtained top-secret data such as the radar's frequency, working band, detection distance, and signal characteristics.
Follow-up to the action
Later, in the Fourth Middle East War, during the 21-day combat operation, especially in the follow-up counterattack operation, the Surface-to-Air Missiles of Egypt, Syria and other countries were drilled and bumped in the air like blinds due to pre-interference and "blindness" of the other side's guidance radar, making it difficult to hit the target.
The loss of long-range surveillance radars and surface-to-air missiles, an aerial umbrella, prevented the Egyptian army from fending off attacks by the Israeli Air Force, and the Fourth Middle East War once again cost the Arabs enormously.
Not long after, on January 22, 1970, Israel sent another naval and air commando team to attack Shadwan Island, located at the entrance of the Gulf of Suez, and stole back a British-aided radar.
Analysis of the reasons for its re-success, among which radar stations are usually built in isolated and prominent places, which is not conducive to garrison and support is one of the objective reasons.
Of course, the characteristics of special operations that "think of others dare not think, and do what others cannot do" are the subjective reasons for the success of the Israeli military.
In the summer of the same year, the Israeli naval special forces secretly drove away five missile speedboats that France was preparing to sell to Iraq from the French naval base in Cherbourg. The following year, they also stole large quantities of uranium from Belgium, much fastering the pace of Israel's nuclear program.
During the Fourth Middle East War, Israeli special forces stole new T-72 tanks from the Egyptian army. As a result, Israel's armored forces developed highly efficient anti-armor munitions specifically for ceramic composite armor.
All of these actions clearly reflect the unconventional and alternative way of thinking about special operations. Its fundamental philosophical feature is the antithesis of the absolutized method of thought. Only in this way can we surprise and attack them unprepared.