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AVERTING ARMAGEDDON HOW THE ISRAELI AIR FORCE ELIMINATED THE IRAQI NUCLEAR MENACE IN 1981 BY PHILIP HANDLEMAN

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operation babylon On June 7, 1981, Israeli Air Force F-16As bomb Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, in a painting by Jack Fellows.

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still on the job F-16A No. 107, a veteran of the Osirak raid, takes off from Nevatim Air Base (above) in October 2010.

the “A” team In a post- raid photo of the IAF pilots (opposite), llan Ramon stands at left, while Zeev Raz is seated at bottom left.

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on the mark An image from the head-up display of one of the F-16s shows the pilot zeroing in on the reactor dome.

THE F-16’S COMPUTERIZED BOMB-SIGHTING SYSTEM WAS A MARVEL OF MODERN WARFARE.

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attack ers would pop up one by one to dive-bombing altitude.

pulled up to go around and try again.

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eyes. Osirak wasn’t disabled; it was destroyed.

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-netic spectrum.

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embrace you. You and your

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program to international

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condemnation and no reac--

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-vival. Ramon would go on to

Columbia

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Longtime pilot Philip Handleman is the author of 22 aviation books. For further reading, he recommends:

, by Rodger W. Claire; , by Dan McKinnon; and

, by Shlomo Nakdimon.

RAMON WOULD GO ON TO BECOME THE FIRST ISRAELI TO BE NAMED AN ASTRONAUT.

osirak’s nemesis Fighting Falcon No. 107 is now preserved at the Hatzerim Air Force Museum, in the Negev Desert. T

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