Mi associo agli auguri con un post dal sito dell'Israeli Air Force sui primi abbattimenti da parte di F-15 e Kfir:
First Down F-15 and IAI 'Kfir'
The first victim of the American air superiority fighter, the F-15, was the Israeli coalition government: the official welcoming ceremony for the three F-15s that landed in Israel in December 1976 ended after the Jewish Sabbath had begun, giving the religious parties grounds for toppling the government. However - we are concerned with aerial victories here...
The Kfir - a plane largely based on the Nesher - was developed and manufactured by the Israeli Aircraft Industries. It combines French aerodynamic design with American engine technology.
1979 marked the start of an escalated aerial conflict in the skies of Lebanon. The Syrians no longer contented themselves with the use of ground troops, and began to assert an aerial presence. Their threatening behavior left Israel with no choice but to engage them, and the first dogfight took place on July 27th, when Kfir and F-15 jets escorted other IAF planes on attacking terrorist targets between Lake Kar'un and the port of Sidon. Five enemy MiG-21s were shot down and the F-15 and Kfir scored their first kills.
Brig. Gen. (then Maj.) Moshe was the first F-15 pilot in the world to score an air victory.
"We built the squadron up over the course of three years. We trained the pilots and established guidelines for our activities", he recalls. "There was just one thing missing: a victory. That was, after all, our raison d'etre. I used to boast to everyone that I would be the first to score a kill with an F-15. Everyone thought I was joking... I wasn't...
"That day, at 10:00, the squadron commander had me called out of a meeting and ordered me to report to the squadron within 20 minutes. I guessed the reason for my summons immediately. We took off, with Lt. Col B., the squadron commander, flying lead, and me flying Number Two.
We flew into Lebanon at an altitude of 15,000 feet, when the controller announced that two MiG quartets were approaching us. We saw and identified them ourselves, but then we received orders to turn back and fly towrds the sea. I felt deep disappointment, but a few minutes later we received the green light for action. I released the fuel tanks, B. and I carried out a nice bank, and galloped back into Lebanon. Seconds later, we were in battle.
"The skies were studded with missiles that were being launched from all directions. B. and I also fired off a pair of missiles, that left a fiery track in the sky - but missed their targets. A pair of MiG-21s crossed my flight path at a slightly lower altitude. At a certain point they switched the direction of their tilt - a sign that they were paying attention to us.
"Five seconds passed from the moment I identified them, to the moment in which I had one of them in my sights. I fired an accurate missile which split the MiG in two. Barely a minute passed, and four more MiGs found themselves planted firmly in the ground. The radio was full of our pilots shouting 'hipalti!' - 'I scored a kill!'. The other MiGs started making their getaway and we intended to give chase, but eventually we we had to give up. We returned home in closed formation, with each one of us telling his story to the others in his turn. When everyone had finished, I said a sentence that everyone still remembers: 'say what you will - I was the first!'.
Cpt. S., a Kfir pilot, was also in the fray that day, and scored the Kfir's - and his own personal - first kill:
"We flew at 12,000 feet, at 400 knots", he remembers. "We patrolled above the other planes that were attacking targets, when suddenly we were alerted that Syrian MiGs were approaching with intent to intercept. We threw off our detachable fuel tanks and headed towards the aggressing MiGs.
"The F-15s flying alongside us were more nimble, and identified the MiGs before we did. When I entered the dogfight, one MiG was already winding his final way downward. I 'sat down' behind a pair of MiGs and fired a missile that exploded next to one of them. I flew past them, broke hard and turned back in their direction. At close range, I saw the plane that I had fired upon earlier dragging a plume of smoke. The pilot bailed out".