Operation Opera was an Israeli Air Force surprise airstrike on 7 June 1981 that destroyed Iraq's unfinished Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad. Eight F-16 fighter-bombers escorted by six F-15s flew over 1,600 kilometres through Jordanian and Saudi airspace and struck the reactor's containment dome in under two minutes, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian. The strike set back Iraq's nuclear ambitions but is credited with driving the program further underground. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Operation TypeAir strike (preemptive) 1 LocationTuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, near Baghdad, Iraq 1 ParticipantsIsraeli Air Force, eight F-16A fighter-bombers and six F-15A escorts 1 ObjectiveDestroy Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor to prevent Iraq from developing nuclear weapons 1 OutcomeThe Osirak reactor was destroyed; ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian were killed; Iraq's nuclear program was disrupted but continued in secret 1 Operation Type
Operation Type (category) Connections
Commanders and Forces
Operation Opera, the 1981 airstrike that destroyed the Iraqi Osirak reactor, was carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces
Source Wikipedia: Operation Opera
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Iraq, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Operation Opera
WikipediaAttack section
At least eight of the sixteen released bombs struck the containment dome of the reactor.
- In Category: Military Operations
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