It is sufficient to say that U.S. military transport aircraft – much larger than those deployed by other belligerents in the Yom Kippur War – delivered no fewer than 22,345 tons of freight in the course of 556 sorties flown by Oct. 24, 1973
Western military observers often stress that the Soviet airlift to Syria during the October 1973 War prompted U.S. President Nixon to launch a similar resupply effort for Israel. However, official U.S. records show a different sequence of events. On 12 and 13 October, Israel informed Washington that its ammunition stocks were running dangerously low. Although Nixon and Kissinger were unsure whether those reports were fully accurate, they were concerned and approved El Al transport flights to collect arms and ammunition from military bases in the continental United States as early as 9 October. That same day, the first Boeing 707 carrying the latest AIM-9G Sidewinder air-to-air missiles departed Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia; the IDF/AF later said its first AIM-9G kills came on 10 October.
As Tom Cooper and David Nicolle explain, along with Albert Grandolini, Lon Nordeen, and Martin Smisek in Arab MiGs, Volume 6, Israel’s transport fleet was too small for the job. Even though additional Boeing 707s and 747s reached the United States on 11 October, over the following weeks they delivered only about 5,000 tons of spare parts and ammunition, mainly AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles and LAU-3 launchers for 70mm/2.75-inch unguided rockets. Nixon and Kissinger also tried to enlist other U.S. civilian airlines, but every one of them refused to send aircraft into a war zone. With no good alternatives left, Nixon ordered a full-scale military operation on 13 October, and Kissinger described the plan to his staff in very blunt terms:
“Having failed to win Egyptian support for a ceasefire resolution at the United Nations, it is necessary to prolong the fighting to create a situation in which [the Arabs] would have to ask for a ceasefire rather than we.”
Known as Operation Nickel Grass, the effort was carried out by the USAF’s Military Airlift Command (MAC). Beginning on 14 October, MAC flew Lockheed C-5A Galaxy and C-141 StarLifter transports to deliver arms and ammunition to Israel. The operation also involved U.S. military personnel at Lod IAP in Israel, who were needed to speed up unloading. That same day, the USAF sent 10 of its Europe-based F-4Es to Israel, while McDonnell Douglas hurried two new F-4Es from an earlier Israeli order to Hatzor airbase.
Because the operation has been widely covered, it is enough to note that U.S. military transport aircraft — much larger than those used by any other side in the war — moved at least 22,345 tons of cargo in 556 sorties by 24 October. Among the loads were 72 “large loads,” including just four M60 main battle tanks, with another 25 M60s and M48A3s later delivered the same way by the end of the month, but especially:
• 36 brand-new M109 and seven M107 self-propelled howitzers and their ammunition;
• complete equipment for three battalions of MIM-23 HAWK SAMs;
• 12 MIM-72A Chaparral SAM systems and plenty of assorted ammunition.
Perhaps even more important, at least for the IDF/AF, was the decision for USAF combat units in Europe to transfer 37 F-4Es to Israel, with the first eight arriving on 14 October. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps also supplied 46 A-4Es and A-4Fs, the first of which arrived on 17 October, and 30 had reached Israel by 24 October. In addition, McDonnell Douglas hurried six newly built F-4Es to Israel during the war. Even with combat losses, the Phantom inventory rose from 85 on 12 October to nearly 100 within a week.
Beyond fighters and ammunition, Washington also sent Israel 12 Lockheed C-130E Hercules transports, the first arriving on 14 October, and 40 UAVs. By sea, it delivered nearly 200 more M60 and M48A3 main battle tanks, 250 M113 APCs, 226 other vehicles, eight CH-53D helicopters, and large stocks of tank and artillery ammunition, along with CBU and GP bombs, ECM and communications systems, and other equipment.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
