Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)

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The lead F-14 has just destroyed the last remaining MiG-23.

Date	January 4, 1989
Location	Gulf of Sidra, Mediterranean Sea
Result	U.S. victory

Combatants

Libya

United States of America

Strength

2 jets

Casualties

2 aircraft destroyed,
pilots lost at sea

none

Libyan-United States clashes
Gulf of Sidra (1st) – 1986 bombing – Gulf of Sidra (2nd)

The second Gulf of Sidra incident, January 4, 1989, occurred when two US F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger Es that appeared to be attempting to engage them, as had happened previously in the first Gulf of Sidra incident (1981).

In 1973 Libya claimed much of the Gulf of Sidra as its territorial waters and subsequently declared a "line of death", the crossing of which would invite a military response. As part of its ongoing Freedom of Navigation activities in support of 12-mile (22.2 km) territorial waters practices, the US Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy was operating near the Libyan coast.

At 20,000 ft at 11:57 on the morning of the 4th, VF-32 Swordsmen F-14As AC207 (Joseph Bernard Connelly/CDR Steven Patrick Collins)(159610 AC207) and AC204 (Herman C. Cook III/Leo F. Enright)(159013 AC204) were flying a combat air patrol about 70 miles (130 km) from the Libyan coast. Two Libyan MiG-23 Floggers which had taken off from Al Bumbaw airfield were detected flying towards them. At the time the Floggers were 72 nautical miles away at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and heading directly towards the Tomcats and carrier.

The F-14s turned away from the head on approach to indicate that they didn't want to engage. The Floggers changed course to intercept at a closing speed of about 870 knots (1,000 mph, 1600 km/h) . The F-14s descended to 3,000 ft to give them a clear radar picture of the Floggers against the sky and leave the Floggers with sea clutter to contend with. At 11:59 the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) of the lead Tomcat ordered the arming of the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow missiles it was carrying.

The Tomcats tried three more maneuvers to end the approach. Each time observers in an E-2C Hawkeye heard the Libyan ground controller instruct the Floggers to change course to intercept.

At noon the trailing Tomcat locked on to the Floggers with its radar, which in past encounters had been reported to the Libyan ground controller and resulted in an instruction to break contact. The US aircraft did not hear those communications this time. At almost 12:01 the lead Tomcat pilot said that "Bogeys have jinked back at me again for the fifth time. They're on my nose now, inside of 20 miles", followed shortly by "Master arm on" as he ordered arming of the weapons. At a range of 14 miles (26 km) he fired a Sparrow radar homing missile and reported "Fox 1. Fox 1." At ten miles (19 km) range he fired another Sparrow. Both missed.

The Floggers accelerated and continued to approach. At six miles (11 km) range the Tomcats split and the Floggers followed the wingman while the lead Tomcat circled to get a tail angle on them. The wingman engaged with a Sparrow and downed one of the Libyan aircraft. One of the US pilots broadcast "Good kill! Good kill!" The lead Tomcat closed on the final Flogger and at 1.5 miles (2.8 km) the pilot fired a Sidewinder, which hit its target. One crewman broadcast "Good kill!" and "Let's get out of here." The Libyan pilots were seen to successfully eject and parachute into the sea, but the Libyan Air Force was unable to recover them. The Tomcats then proceeded north to return to the carrier.

Subsequent examination of still photography from the Tomcats indicated that the Floggers were armed with AA-7 Apex missiles. Depending on the model, this can be either semi-active radarhoming or infra-red (heat seeking) homing.

Identifications of the Tomcats vary. The narrative above used the details from Air Aces [1]. Another source [2] identifies the wingman as AC202 rather than AC204. Both agree on AC207 as the lead.