On September 6, 2007, Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in Dier ez-Zor, in the Eastern Syria, as part of an operation named &qu...
On September 6, 2007, Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in Dier ez-Zor, in the Eastern Syria, as part of an operation named "Silent Tone".
The attack, performed by IAF “Ra’am” (F-15I) and “Sufa” (F-16I) fighter jets, became one of the most important military operations in the IDF’s history.
During the night of September 5th and 6th, 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a nuclear facility in its last stages of construction in the Deir ez-Zor region in Syria, 280 miles north-east of Damascus.
The Syrian nuclear reactor project operated under a heavy cloak of secrecy for about six years, and was exposed by the Israeli Intelligence Community in its final stages, a few months before its completion and operation.
Eight fighter jets including four F-15I and four F-16I took part in the strike mission, along with the jamming aircraft.
The "Ra'am" (F-15I) formation that led the assault took off from Hatzerim AFB at around 10 PM. The second formation took off two minutes later, joined by the rest of the "Sufa" (F-16I) fighter jets, and they refueled together in the air.
The strike group flew undetected at terrain hugging altitudes to evade Syrian radars. They also jammed the Syrian networks.
Around midnight, the leading formation had reached the necessary distance from the target and began ascending in preparation for the attack maneuver. The ordnance drop occurred minutes later.
The aircraft broke contact, and the next formations followed in order to attack. After all the munitions were dropped, the final "Sufa" fighter's WSO radioed "Arizona from all of us", meaning that all of the bombs hit their target and exploded as planned.
The Military Intelligence Directorate estimated that the nuclear facility was damaged beyond repair.
The aircraft then returned through Turkish airspace and landed back in Israel four hours later.
