4F-Lebanon Civil War (1982-83)

Although I was aware of the conflicts in Lebanon among Syria, Israel, and various Christian and Palestinian paramilitary forces, it was a far away place that seemed to have little consequence to the US. Most news reports emphasized clashes between the PLO and Israel along Lebanon's southern border and the eventual invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 1982. US participation in a multinational UN peacekeeping force established to promote the withdrawal of Israeli, Syrian, and PLO forces from Lebanon was also in the news, but not a prominent story.

This changed when Iran set up an IRGC base in Lebanon and began training and equipping the Hezbollah paramilitary group. In 1983, Hezbollah terrorists perfomed suicide bombings on the US Embassy and UN barracks, killing 63 US civilians, 243 US Marines, and 53 French soldiers. Following that, Syrian air defenses in Lebanon opened fire on US reconnaissance planes supporting UN ground forces. The US Navy launched a subsequent airstrike on Syrian AAA, but lost two aircraft in the strike. France planned and carried out an airstrike on the IRGC base, but the US chose not to participate, fearing further intervention could provoke a wider-spread war. By 1984, the US chose to withdraw from the region, even though attacks on US citizens continued throughout the 1980s.

UNITED STATES
* A-6E Intruder (USN)
* A-7E Corsair II (USN)

FRANCE
* F-8E Crusader (French Naval Aviation)
* Super Etendard (French Naval Aviation)

To facilitate an invasion of southern Lebanon, in 1982 Israel launched a campaign to decimate Syrian air defenses in Lebanon to leave Syrian ground forces defenseless from aerial attack. The following equipment was representative of Israeli and Syrian equipment used in Lebanon.

ISRAEL
* A-4N Ayit (IAF)
* F-4E Kurnass (IAF)
* F-15A Baz (IAF)
• F-16A Netz (IAF)
* Kfir C2 (IAF)

SYRIA
Air Defense Systems
• SA-2 Guideline / Low Blow (SyADF)
• SA-3 Goa / Fan Song (SyADF)
• SA-6 Gainful / Straight Flush (SyADF)

Strike-Fighter Aircraft
* MiG-21bis Fishbed-L (Syrian Arab Air Force)
* MiG-23MS Flogger-E (Syrian Arab Air Force)
* MiG-23B Flogger-F (Syrian Arab Air Force)
* MiG-25RB Foxbat-B (Syrian Arab Air Force)
• Su-22M3 Fitter-H (Syrian Arab Air Force)

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