Military Operations
Operation Opera
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Operation Opera was an Israeli Air Force surprise airstrike on 7 June 1981 that destroyed Iraq's unfinished Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad. Eight F-16 fighter-bombers escorted by six F-15s flew over 1,600 kilometres through Jordanian and Saudi airspace and struck the reactor's containment dome in under two minutes, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian. The strike set back Iraq's nuclear ambitions but is credited with driving the program further underground.
Facts
Operation TypeAir strike (preemptive) 1 LocationTuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, near Baghdad, Iraq 1 ParticipantsIsraeli Air Force, eight F-16A fighter-bombers and six F-15A escorts 1 ObjectiveDestroy Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor to prevent Iraq from developing nuclear weapons 1 OutcomeThe Osirak reactor was destroyed; ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian were killed; Iraq's nuclear program was disrupted but continued in secret 1 Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.