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2 A2drfC
Intelligence Report
.erer
SR IR 75-16
September 1975
Copy No 56
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This study examines the military operations of Egypt, Syria, and Israel during
the 1973 Middle East war with a view to providing some indications of future force
developments in the area. Key findings:
Strategy. The Arabs had different goals and, consequently, different strategies.
The Syrians wanted to liberate the Golan Heights and attempted to do so in one
stroke. The Egyptians' main goal was to achieve a political effect, and they therefore
planned for a limited offensive.
Performance of Troops. The Arabs were tough on defense but ill trained and
poorly led on offense.
The Israelis showed a depth of training and flexibility that enabled small units
to withstand the initial shock of the Arab attack without breaking, and to recover
quickly.
Antitank Weaponry. The most effective tank killer in this war was the tank-90
percent of the Arab tanks and at least 75 percent of the Israeli tanks destroyed
during the war were hit by enemy tanks.
Antitank missiles such as the Sagger, RPG-7, LAW, and TOW could be
countered by appropriate tactics, although they represented a new and dangerous
presence on the battlefield.
Air Defense. The Arab air defenses prevented the Israeli Air Force from
damaging Arab ground forces on anything like the scale seen in1967. They achieved
their primary aim by disrupting Israeli attacks rather than by shooting down or
damaging Israeli aircraft. Israeli loss rates were actually lower than they were in
1967, when the Arabs had only rudimentary air defense systems.
The Syrians destroyed or damaged Israeli aircraft at a rate two to three times
greater than the Egyptians because the tactical situation on the Golan front forced
the Israelis to accept greater risks.
Mobilization. The Israeli mobilization was untidy and revealed many flaws and
shortages. The situation was saved by the training of the troops and by standardized
procedures that allowed crews to be scrambled without degrading performance.
Despite the problems, the Israelis delivered more combat power to the front line in
less time than the plans called for.
Naval Operations. Israel's talent for tailoring its strengths to Arab weaknesses
was especially evident in naval operations during the 1973 conflict. The Israeli
navy's excellent performance was a sharp contrast to the prewar complacency and
overconfidence displayed by the ground and air forces.
SR IR 75-16
Sep 75
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INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Introduction
Contents
Page
Comment on Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Page
Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 100
Air Defense . . . . . . . . . . . -. -. . 103
Performance of the Forces . . . . ... . . -. 104
Tank Versus Antitank . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Mobilization . . . . . . .. . - . . .- . 109
Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . - .-.-.-
. .111
Electronic Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Tables
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Page
Photographs
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Comment on Sources*
These
sources oen provi e unique information o great
value, but are limited in quantity and scope.
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SErET
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'C6
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2 Levels
- am- Parapet
Suez Canal
567046 9-75 C A
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Israeli Counterattack
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EfoGR-ET
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AEGRET
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SEGf RET
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Total aircraft 214 69 378 337 229 588 354 354 659
a. Source:
December 1974,
b. Source: - srae i an ook, September 1966,
c. Source: Arab-Israeli Handbook, July 1971,
d. No figures available.
e. Egypt fired a few early models of the SA-7 (Strela) shoulder-launched missiles at Israeli aircraft in 1970.
We do not know how many were available in mid-1971 but it probably was few.
f. Total includes obsolescent aircraft. The Egyptians are phasing out MIG-15s and MIG-17s. 'he Israelis have
phased out Ouragans and older model Mysteres. In 1973 the Egyptians had 16 Iraqi Hawker Hunters on loan.
g. One squadron of Libyan Mirages was in Egypt before the war. The aircraft were flown by Egyptian pilots under
Egyptian Air Force command.
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Measuring Effectiveness
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Aro
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Table 3
Mirage 2 34 0.24 0
,a.Applying Egyptian front loss rate for whole war to sorties flown in this period.
1. A-4s flew only strike sorties in the October war.
:. F-4s flew defense and strategic attack as well as strike missions. All F-4s
lost on the Egyptian front after 11 October were engaged in strike sorties.
d. Mirage losses occurred only during air defense sorties. These were mostly in
the period 14-20 October, reflecting increased Egyptian Air Force reaction
late in the war as the air defenses along the canal were worn down.
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* At the time of the war Syria had about 350 Soviet advisers
working with its air defense forces. The Egyptians had a total
of 200 advisers, most of them probably not involved in air de-
fense. This may have made some contribution to Syrian effec-
tiveness, though we cannot calculate how much.
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Table 5
Mirage 6 15 0" 0 .8 5 b 0
a. Applying Syrian front loss rate for whole war to sorties flown in this period.
b. No Mirages were lost during strike sorties.
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Table 6
Arab and Israeli Aircraft Losses by Cause,
6-24 October 1 9 7 3 a
3 334
Ground-based system
SAM, crew-served 40c 22'
SAM, man-portable 40
AAA 31 78
SAM/AAA 6 0
81 100
Miscellaneous
Technical failure 9 0
Other 6 221
Unknown 10 59
25 81
Total 109 515
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Syrian Deployment
Since the 1967 war the Syrians had deployed the
bulk of their army between the cease-fire line and
Damascus. The orientation of some small units toward
Jordan was a relatively minor distraction, with the
exception of the September 1970 invasion of Jordan
precipitated by King Husayn's repression of the
Palestinian militants. In the years preceding the
1973 war the normal case saw the cease-fire line
manned by battalion-size elements of three Syrian
infantry divisons--from north to south, the 7th,
9th, and 5th (see foldout map 1b). Two armored
divisions--the 1st and 3rd--and three indepen-
dent armored brigades were deployed over a wide
circle around Damascus. While this was the general
outline there was a large degree of variation. In
times of tension, which were common, the units along
the border would be reinforced and routinely larger
or smaller units would be rotated through training
cycles at training areas in the desert east of
Damascus.
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where the front line was and the Syrian air defense
prevented the IAF from loitering above the battlefield
long enough to find targets on its own.* Secondly,
the Syrian air defense system, as noted, was denser
than the one in Sinai. The IAF lost more aircraft on
the Syrian front on 7 October than on any other day
or front of the war. Providing the kind of close
support sought by the Israeli infantryman would have
resulted in still greater losses. The fact is that,
with minor exceptions, the IAF and the line of strong-
points had effectively cut off the Syrian armor op-
erating behind the Israeli lines from the infantry
and logistic support it needed to hold its gains.
* The fact that the Israelis also lacked sufficient trained men
and communications to effectively coordinate became apparent later
in the war. The problem of acquiring targets and bringing effec-
tive strikes to bear on them is a difficult one in any case. On
both fronts, the Israelis suffered greatly from prewar lack of
training, the chaos of mobilization under unanticipated condi-
tions, and the debilitating effects of Arab air defense systems.
Though some of the problems were eased toward the end of the war,
none of them was satisfactorily solved.
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The Crossing
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SEls-2/
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A6
The Bridges
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Into Africa
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due west from Jabal Tasa into the 21st Armored and
16th Mechanized Divisions of the Egyptians. This
was to divert Egyptian attention from the canal and
to pin down a significant fraction of Egypt's armor
in the area to prevent reinforcement of its forces
at Israel's chosen crossing site. At 1800 Amnon
Reshef's brigade (probably the 14th Regular Armored)
struck out for the canal. Reshef gave at least two
of his battalions the mission to get behind the
21st Division and drive it northward away from the
crossing site to open the way for the crossing.
One battalion--the 79th--reached the crossing site
undetected. It then turned north and moved several
kilometers along the waterway hoping to capture an
Egyptian bridge. Another battalion to the right of
the 79th, however, ran into stiff opposition and
was stopped. The 79th was called back for fear the
Egyptians would exploit its exposed right flank.
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the use of any such ploy and claim that on that first
day they used only the Uniflote sections to ferry their
tanks across. Some reports combine fragments of both
stories.
* When the Israelis first occupied the area they thought the
markings indicated a Chinese project, and the name stuck. The
area was chosen for an irrigation project because it was reason-
ably near fresh water piped from the west side of the canal and
the land was flat and open--characteristics which made for the
kind of nose-to-nose tank battle which developed there.
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As a result elements
o two tank brigades from Adan's division and at
least part of Reshef's tank brigade broke off their
other activities and moved southwestward behind the
whole Israeli crossing force and set up an ambush.
The Egyptian 25th Brigade was virtually destroyed
within 15 minutes while the Israelis suffered no loss
at all. Then the Israeli units returned to their
previous positions. Another of Adan's brigades, that
of Gabbi Amir, was held in Sinai for several days to
fight off a series of Egyptian counterattacks. This
indicates the intensity of the Egyptian effort to
stop the Israeli crossing.
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Herzog's account is
complete and convincinq in its details.
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Combat Highlights
Strategy
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Air Defense
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SEGRET
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Mobilization
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Navy
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Electronic Warfare
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Bibliographical Note
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2012/09/04
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