The Mission
At sundown, on Sunday, June 7, 1981, the Israeli Air Force destroyed the nuclear breeder reactor at al-Tuwaitha, Iraq. The reactor was designed to produce nuclear weapons for Saddam Hussein, the bellicose dictator of Iraq who had made no secret of the fact that he intended to use these weapons to destroy the state of Israel. The raid was conceived in absolute secrecy and brilliantly executed by the eight highly trained pilots in the strike package, flying F-16A "Netz" attack fighters modified by Israeli engineers for long-range attack and by eight F-15 fighter pilots who executed top-cover and communications during the raid. All of the aircraft returned safely to Israel following the mission. At the time the world was quick to condemn Israel’s action. A nuclear armed Iraq under Saddam would have made it difficult if not impossible to wage war during Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
