Gulf of Sidra incident

Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)
Computer recreation of Fast Eagle 107's AIM-9 Sidewinder about to hit a Libyan Su-22
Date August 19, 1981 Location Gulf of Sidra, Mediterranean Sea Result U.S. victory
Combatants
Libya	United States
Strength
2 Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft	2 F-14A Tomcats
Casualties
2 aircraft destroyed; pilots recovered alive	none

The first Gulf of Sidra incident, August 19 1981, was an incident in which two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter fighter jets engaged and were shot down by two US F-14 Tomcats off of the Libyan coast.

Background

In 1973 Libya had claimed much of the Gulf of Sidra as its territorial waters and subsequently declared a "line of death", the crossing of which would invite a military response. As part of its ongoing Freedom of Navigation activities in support of 12 nautical mile (22.2 km) territorial waters practices the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) was operating near the so-called line of death.

Incident

On the morning of the 19th, two VF-41 Black Aces F-14As, Fast Eagle 102 (CDR "Hank" Kleeman/LT "DJ" Venlet) and Fast Eagle 107 (LT "Music" Muczynski/LTJG "Amos" Anderson), were flying combat air patrol to cover aircraft engaged in a missile exercise. An E-2A Hawkeye gained radar contact with two Sukhoi Su-22 'Fitters' which had left Okba Ben Nafi Air Base near Tripoli. The Fitters were heading towards the Tomcats and the lead Fitter fired an AA-2 Atoll short range heat seeking missile at the Tomcats. The Tomcats evaded and were cleared to return fire by their orders, which mandated self defense on the initiation of hostile action.

Muczynski engaged the lead Fitter and shot it down with an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. Kleeman engaged the wingman and shot it down with another Sidewinder. The official United States Navy report states that both Libyan pilots ejected and were safely recovered, but listening to the official audio recording of the incident taken from USS Biddle one of the F-14 pilots states that he saw a Libyan pilot eject but his parachute failed to open.

The international tensions and dogfighting incidents seen in the movies Top Gun and Iron Eagle were drawn in part from this incident.^{[citation needed]}

According to a transcript from the USS Biddle, the Fitters were shot down before the controller was even sure that the F-14s had been fired upon.

Kleeman and Venlet's F-14 Tomcat from the incident is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Less than an hour later, while the Libyans were conducting a Search and Rescue operation of their downed pilots, two fully armed MiG-25s entered the airspace over the Gulf and headed toward the US Carriers at Mach 1.5 and conducted a mock attack in the direction of USS Nimitz. Two VF-41 Tomcats and one VF-84 Tomcat headed towards the Libyans which then turned around. The Tomcats turned home but had to turn around again when the Libyans headed toward the US Carriers once more, after being tracked by the F-14s radars once again the MiGs finally headed home. One more Libyan formation would venture out into the Gulf toward the US forces later that day.^[1]

See also

• mv El Fatah and mv Almasira sunk in the Gulf of Sidra
• Gulf of Sidra incident (1989), another case where US jets shot down Libyan jets.
• Hainan Island incident similar story between USA and China

Notes

1. ^ COOPER, Tom, Libyan Wars, 1980–89, Part 2.

External links

• Description of the incident
• Air Aces record
• US Department of State Country Study of Libya, reporting that both Libyan pilots survived.
• The audio recording from the dogfight and a short text transcript. Engagement running at 5 minutes and 46 seconds (note that it's not the best audio quality)
• Reagan and Gadhafi - Robert M Kimmitt's commentary on the 1981 "Line of Death" incident
• Naval Aviation 1911-1986. A pictorial study pp.91

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