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Mirage III VS MIG-21: Six Day War 1967

 by Shlomo Aloni, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2010, $17.95.

Developed more or less in parallel, the Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F and the French-produced Dassault Mirage IIICJ (called Shahak, or “Sky Blazer,” by its Israeli pilots) were arguably as closely comparable in performance as Mach 2 interceptors ever got when they clashed during the Six Day War of June 1967. The deciding factor lay in the intensity and consistency of their pilots’ training, something at which Israel excelled. Nevertheless, as Israeli historian Shlomo Aloni reveals in his new addition to Osprey’s “Duel” series, the vaunted Israeli pilots had to learn to deal with challenges such as faulty guided missiles, gunsight issues and delayed-detonation cannon shells designed for bomber interception that punched right through the MiGs to explode beyond. Readjusted to detonate on impact, the 30mm rounds accounted for all but one of the 23 MiG-21s claimed by the Shahak pilots between July 14, 1966, and June 10, 1967.

Besides drawing extensively from the memories of Israeli jet jockeys, Aloni makes the most of Egyptian accounts to represent the Arab side (Syrian and Iraqi sources remain less accessible). His personal profiles focus on the careers of Yoram Agmom, whose Syrian victim on July 14, 1966, was the first MiG-21 credited to a Mirage, and Egyptian Nabil Shoukry, who after surviving Israel’s devastating preemptive airstrike scored the first MiG-21 victory over a Shahak on June 5, 1967.

Aside from some statistical analysis where the clarity suffers from excessive hair-splitting, Mirage III vs MiG-21 is an effective evaluation of two classically matched adversaries. For anyone interested in supersonic jet warfare, it makes an interesting companion volume to earlier “Duels,” such as Peter Davies’ 2008 F-4 Phantom II vs MiG-21: USAF & VPAF in the Vietnam War.

 

Originally published in the November 2011 issue of Aviation History. To subscribe, click here.