Broadway Books
Raid on the Sun
by  Rodger W. Claire
Reviewed By  D.M. Knights, IPMS# 17656

[book cover image]

ISBN: 0-7679-1425-2
Published 2005, 288 pages.

In "Raid on the Sun", author Rodger W. Claire describes the 1981 raid by the Israeli Air Force on the Iraqi Osarik nuclear reactor complex. Given the recent tensions over the Iranian nuclear program, this story has a certain relevance to current events. The problem the author faces is how to make a story about an air strike in which the raiding forces suffered no losses and indeed, had none of their aircraft even hit by anti-aircraft fire, interesting.

Mr. Claire does an admirable job of keeping the story exciting, even if the reader already knows the outcome. The author describes the beginning of the Iraqi nuclear program, and the subsequent Israeli efforts to derail the program. The raid on the facility by the Iranian Air Force during the Iran-Iraq war is mentioned as are the Israeli efforts to keep equipment out of the hands of the Iraqi nuclear scientist by sabotage at the source of the materials in France.

Finally, the heart of the book is the story of the planning and execution of the raid by the F-16s of the IAF with fighter escort provided by F-15's. The secrecy of the raid was almost compromised at the start, when the raiding aircraft overflew the Jordanian royal yacht on which the King of Jordan spending the weekend. As most people know, the raid was spectacularly successful, with the Israelis destroying the Iraqi facility without the loss of any aircraft.

There are a few errors in the text. At one point the author refers to Iraq's "Tupelov fighters" (The Iraqis had only Tupolev bombers, not fighters. All the Iraqi fighters from Russia were either MiGs or Sukohis.). In another place, he speaks of a Kifr's engines (A Kfir has only a single engine.) However, these small errors really do not distract from the author's overall presentation of this interesting story. I recommend the book. It is a good read.

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