Israel: Capability

Israel’s Jets Not Enough, (New York Post)…Dan Williams, Reuters, Jan 22, 1980, pg. 10

Israel has spent years training for a possible bombing run against Iranian nuclear sites, but its air force may be too small to finish the job alone, officials and independent experts said yesterday.

Officials, who declined to be identified given the censorship around Israel’s strategic capabilities, said the air force would be unlikely to deliver more than a one-time blow to the Iranian nuclear program, which international experts believe may require as many as 1,000 strikes to be destroyed.

“A hundred warplanes are enough for a raid, but they do not make for an air campaign – and that is what is needed to deal conclusively with Iran’s capabilities,” an official said. “Israel wants to go it alone against Iran as a last resort only.”