Air battle of Mansoura
The air battle of Mansoura was an air battle that took place in 1972 during the Yom Kippur War between the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) and the Israeli Air Force (IAF) near the town of El Mansoura, in the Nile Delta.
| Air battle of Mansoura | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Yom Kippur War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Egypt | Israel | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Hosni Mubarak (EAF) Ahmed Abdel Rahman Nasser (No. 104 Wing) | Benny Peled (IAF) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 62 MiG-21 aircraft | 160 F-4 Phantom II and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
6 aircraft lost and 2 pilots killed in total: - 3 aircraft shot down - 3 aircraft out of fuel, crashed |
17 aircraft shot down (Egyptian claim) 2 aircraft shot down (Israeli claim) | ||||||
The Israeli air force launched air strikes on October 14 against the Egyptian air bases at Tanta and Mansoura. Israeli aircraft were spotted approaching from the Mediterranean Sea. The 104th Air Wing of the Egyptian air force scrambled its fighters, and received reinforcements from other air bases. The air battle began at 15:15 and lasted 53 minutes. The Egyptian commander was Hosni Mubarak. According to Egyptian sources, multiple Israeli fighters were shot down; this is disputed by Israeli sources.