Still serving, some even in the hands of the enemy, my favorite fighter refuses to be counted out...
The swan song of the Israeli Phantom force came during Israel’s 1982 intervention in the War in Lebanon, when Phantoms — escorted by new F-15s and F-16s — wiped out all 30 of Syria’s SAM batteries in the Bekaa Valley in one day without losing a single plane in Operation Mole Cricket 19.
Over 5,000 were built by McDonnell-Douglas, and some are still mothballed around the world faithfully awaiting the call to action......Ben