Operation Diamond: Defected Iraqi Mig 21F
In 1964, a Jewish Iraqi, Yusuf, contacted Israeli personnel in Tehran, as Israel and Iran still had diplomatic relations. Yusuf, since 10 years of age, had been working as a servant for a Maronite Christian family. His girlfriend's friend was married to an Iraqi pilot named Munir Redfa. Redfa was annoyed that his Christian roots prevented his promotion in the military. He was also upset that he had been ordered to attack Iraqi Kurds. Yusuf believed that Redfa was ready to leave Iraq.
A female Mossad agent befriended Redfa, and he told her that he was forced to live far away from his family in Baghdad, he was not trusted by his commanders, and allowed to fly only with small fuel tanks because of his Christianity. He also expressed his admiration towards Israelis, "few against so many Muslims". Redfa was persuaded to travel to Europe to meet with Israeli agents. The head of the Mossad observed the meeting between Redfa and an intelligence officer, using a peep-hole. Redfa was offered $1 million, Israeli citizenship, and full-time employment. Redfa demanded that his relatives be smuggled out of Iraq, which Israel agreed to do. Later Redfa traveled to Israel to see the airfield he was going to use to land the plane. He also met with the commander of Israeli Air Force, Major General Mordechai Hod. They discussed the dangerous flight and its path.
Numerous Mossad agents were sent to Iraq to assist the transfer of Redfa's wife Betty, their two children aged three and five, his parents and a number of other family members out of the country. Betty and their two children went to Paris for what she thought was a summer vacation. Redfa, who promised to prepare her for what was going to happen, told her nothing. When Betty was contacted by a Mossad agent, who had her new Israeli passport, she initially became very upset and threatened to contact the Iraqi embassy, before she calmed down. The other family members were taken to the Iranian border, where Kurdish guerillas helped them to cross into Iran, from where they were taken to Israel.
The opportunity to defect came about on August 16, 1966. While Redfa was flying over northern Jordan, his plane was tracked by radar. The Jordanians contacted Syria but were reassured that the plane belonged to the Syrian air force and was on a training mission. When Redfa's plane reached Israel, he was met by two Israeli Air Force Dassault Mirage IIIs, which escorted him to a landing at Hatzor. Later at a press conference, Redfa said that he had landed the plane on "the last drop of fuel".
In the aftermath of the defection, Redfa's MiG was renumbered 007, reflecting the manner in which it had arrived. Within a few weeks the aircraft took off again on the first of many test flights. The jet's strengths and weaknesses were analyzed and it was flown against IAF fighters, eventually training Israeli pilots to deal with the aircraft.
In the years following the defection, the Mig was a major attraction for aviation fans. I saw the aircraft a number of times in static and air shows often flying with Mirages. A very noisy aircraft.
In January 1968, Israel loaned the MiG to the United States, which evaluated the jet under the HAVE DOUGHNUT program. The transfer helped pave the way for the Israeli acquisition of the F-4 Phantom, which the Americans had been reluctant to sell to Israel. Upon the completion of the American program, the Mig was returned to Israel and was since displayed in the Air Force Museum.
Trumpeter's model was chosen to present this Mig. It is a basic model, but more accurate than the equivalent Academy kit. The aircraft received minimal maintenance, just to keep it in a flying condition. Yet, the bright red scheme was often repainted using temporary paint brands.
Nice Fishbed Rafi! Cool and informative historical background too. Bravo
Thank you, Carel!
Very interesting build and story, Rafi @blackmopane
Thanks a lot for sharing
Thank you, John.
What a fantastic story, Rafi! Great to know all these details!
Excellent model as always!
Thank you, Spiros!
Very nicely done and a great historical narrative. I used the HAVE DOUGHNUT report extensively when I was teaching the Soviet MiG class in the Weapons and Tactics course at the A-10 schoolhouse at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ in the early 1980s.
Thank you, Tom.
You must have had a great career.
Rafi, I can't complain. Twenty years flying fighters in the USAF...eight in the F-111 and twelve in the A-10...2 wars. 23 years flying for American Airlines following my USAF retirement...B727, F100, B757, and B767. Now I just build models...like I did when I was a kid dreaming about flying.
Impressive!
Now that's a horse of a different color, nicely done. Way back when I was a lowly sailor, in our squadron ready room was a photo of one o our Phantom flying with a Mig 21, this back in '76 so it might have been the one you've got here.
Thank you Robert.
Following the HAVEDOUGHNUT program the US established the 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight flying acquired Mig 21s from different sources.
Rafi Ben haha had (@blackmopane)
A good read is "AREA 51" by Anne Jacobsen. The book has a interesting chapter about your Mig-21 007 when it was borrowed to the U.S. not only did they fly it, take it apart, rebuild it and maintain it, they used it as a target for radar research using Russian and U.S. built systems.
Enjoyed the article, a good build up and motivator for looking at your build. The photo of it sitting in a museum is a added plus. The back story really adds some meat to the article and makes the model relevant to Israeli history.
Thank you, Stephen.
Unfortunately, the aircraft is now slowly decaying since it remains in an outside display.
Excellent Mig, Rafi. Eduard is doing a new tool Mig-21F-13 later this year.
Thank you, John.
I am sure that Eduard's model will be the best of the lot. I pass, though.
Very nice work, Rafi @blackmopane! A most interesting Mig! I believe this the event that the movie "Steal the Sky" dramatized. A MiG-15 is used in the movie as the defecting aircraft; perhaps logistics issues prevented the use of an actual MiG-21?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_the_Sky
Thank you Gary,
It seems that the big issue with Mig 21s is intensive maintenance requirements.
Very nice - unusual to see a MiG 21 in Israeli markings!
Thank you, Greg!