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123-631: The airport has a diverse international history and has been known by a variety of names. It was originally built in 1923 as an Italian air force base called aeroporto militare di Mellaha . It became a German air base during World War II. The airbase was captured by the British 8th Army in January 1943 and transferred to the control of the US Army Air Forces , who called it Mellaha AAF until 1945, when they renamed it Wheelus Air Base for

246-647: A different incident , two MiG-25s approached a pair of F-15s, fired missiles at long range which were evaded by the F-15s, and then outran the American fighters. Two more F-15s joined the pursuit, and a total of 10 air-to-air missiles were fired at the MiG-25s, though none reached them. On 30 January 1991, an IQAF MiG-25 damaged a USAF F-15C with a R-40 missile in the Samurra Air Battle . Iraq claims it

369-651: A plane crash in Iran . During the USAFs tenure, the base was extended, demolishing the derelict motor-racing buildings. A 1954 agreement with Libya extended use of the base until 1971, but changing needs led the United States to withdraw completely by 1970, handing the facility over to the new Libyan government that had taken power a year earlier in the 1969 Libyan coup d'état . After the US Air Force left in 1970,

492-584: A 160 mi (260 km) pipeline to provide water. On 18 November, the battle commenced. It saw the 118,000 men and 738 tanks of the Eighth Army, the main force coming from Egypt and also including the Tobruk garrison, engage the Italian-German force of 119,000 men and 552 tanks. The fighting started on 18 November and Crusader achieved its objectives by the end of the year. On 25 November, after

615-487: A German counterattack into Egypt during Crusader had been repulsed, Cunningham was dismissed by Auchinleck. His replacement was Auchinleck's deputy chief of the general staff, Major-General Neil Ritchie , who was chosen due to his familiarity with the Crusader plan. The official history of the campaign recorded that the decision was made due to Auchinleck perceiving Cunningham as being too defensive minded. This resulted in

738-595: A US airman killed that year. American use continued until the 1969 Libyan coup d'état and the subsequent expiration of the lease. When the Americans left, the base was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base (قاعدة عقبة بن نافع الجوية) after the Islamic general who conquered North Africa . It was used by both the Libyan and Soviet air forces. The United States bombed the base in 1986 during Operation El Dorado Canyon . In 1995,

861-453: A close working relationship and understood one another, the latter held an unofficial position within the Eighth Army. He produced battle plans that Auchinleck used but was under no responsibility to inform other members of the headquarters of these ideas. Auchinleck froze out members of the army's headquarters in favour of Dorman-Smith, resulting in confusion and animosity within the headquarters and with other officers. Auchinleck decided that

984-454: A collision course. A fuel tank could be suspended under the fuselage. The aircraft could carry unguided gravity bombs to fulfill a rudimentary strike role by using a delivery system developed for nuclear weapons. As the bombs would weigh no more and incur no more drag than its regular load of R-40 missiles, its performance was not impaired, leading to some impressive bombing feats; when released at an altitude of 20,000 m (66,000 ft) and

1107-400: A cruising flight altitude 19,000–21,000 m (62,000–69,000 ft) makes it possible to have a range only 230 km (140 mi) less than when flying Mach 0.9 at altitudes 9,000–10,000 m (30,000–33,000 ft). The maximum altitude of flight without an afterburner in operation is 12,000 m (39,000 ft). The poor fuel consumption in the subsonic regime, and hence range,

1230-481: A determined and deliberate effort to appeal to the troops. He delivered pep talks to groups of soldiers, was open to discuss policy with the rank and file and used these opportunities to disperse the Rommel myth . In August, the Eighth Army established its first medical center for soldiers suffering from battle exhaustion , where they could rest for short periods. Churchill returned to Egypt in late August, following

1353-403: A final battle would not take place at Mersa Matruh and ordered the reorganisation of the Eighth Army's divisions. He wanted them split between forward and rear elements. The former would contain one infantry brigade and all of the divisional artillery. They were to be mobile enough to allow independent operations back and forth across the desert, while the rear element would contain the remainder of

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1476-425: A furor when the pilot flew faster than Mach 3 over Pakistani territory following a reconnaissance mission into Pakistan airspace. The MiG-25 broke the sound barrier while flying at an altitude of around 20,000 m (66,000 ft), otherwise the mission would have remained covert, at least to the general public. The Pakistani Government contended that the breaking of the sound barrier was a deliberate attempt to make

1599-412: A loss of confidence over his "ability to press to the bitter end the offensive he had been ordered to continue". Evan McGilvray and Philip Warner, historians who have written about Auchinleck, added additional factors such as Auchinleck's concern that Cunningham was stressed, exhausted and had problems with his sight that would require time away from command. Michael Carver , who fought in the battle and

1722-543: A maximum speed of 360 km/h, as well as three Fieseler Fi 156 Storch liaison aircraft, and a Junkers Ju 52 for transport of men and materiel. The airbase was captured by the British 8th Army in January 1943. The US Army Air Force began using Mellaha as a base in January 1943. It was used by the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 12th Air Force for Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomb missions into Italy and southern parts of Germany . In addition, Mellaha Field

1845-459: A more advanced radar. This resulted in the pulse-Doppler radar Sapphire-25 system fitted to the MiG-25PD variant. As an interceptor, typical armament includes four R-40 long-range air-to-air missiles , each fitted with either an infrared seeker (R-40T/TD) or a semi-active radar homing seeker (R-40R/RD) and a maximum range of 35–60 km (22–37 mi) against a high-flying target on

1968-416: A new offensive was not possible until at least September and overruled suggestions of immediate small-scale attacks. After visits to several Eighth Army divisions and meetings with various high-ranking officers, Churchill decided to make changes on 6 August. This included replacing Auchinleck with General Harold Alexander as commander-in-chief of Middle East Command, Dorman-Smith being sent back to Britain and

2091-455: A number of casualties in the process. On 25 October 2011 Google Earth released multispectral imagery from GeoEye taken on 28 August 2011 which showed the airfield as well as the highly capable MiG-25 aircraft with no visible damage. This imagery helped corroborate reporting which suggested that the airfield had been taken over early on by opposition protesters; moreover, NATO and US air forces would have wanted to avoid collateral damage to

2214-449: A rapid advance through northeast Italy and into Austria . Problems occurred where British and Yugoslavian forces met. Josip Broz Tito 's forces were intent on securing control of the area of Venezia Giulia . They arrived before British forces and were very active in trying to prevent the establishment of military government in the manner that had applied to most of the rest of Italy. They even went as far as to restrict supplies through to

2337-428: A reconnaissance aircraft) making a flypast. The Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau soon realized that the performance of the new aircraft gave it great potential to set new flight records. In addition to their normal duties, the prototypes Ye-155-P1, Ye-155-R1, Ye-155-R3 were made lighter by removing some unneeded equipment and were used for these attempts. Under Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) classification,

2460-718: A retreat was established. These included communication, power, transport and storage facilities, as well as oil installations and supplies. Flooding of the Nile delta was also considered, as a last resort and after a position beyond the Suez Canal had been established. Over the course of July, the Eighth Army fought the First Battle of El Alamein during which the Axis attacks were halted but Auchinleck's counter-attacks were also stopped. The campaign official history noted that following

2583-605: A revised version of the R15 engine, the R15BF2-300, designed with an extra compression stage and running at higher temperatures to give greater power and better fuel consumption. A MiG-25P was fitted with the new engines, with testing of the modified aircraft, unofficially known as the MiG-25M (Ye-155M) beginning in 1974. Planned production aircraft would have received improved radar and armament, but production orders never followed, as

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2706-575: A series of interceptors during the second half of the 1950s: the I-1, I-3U, I-7U, I-75, Ye-150, Ye-150A, Ye-152 , Ye-152A, Ye-152P, and Ye-152M. The Ye-150 was noteworthy because it was built specifically to test the Tumansky R-15 engine, two of which would later be used for the MiG-25. This led to Ye-152, alternatively known as Ye-166, which set several world records. The Ye-152M (converted from one of

2829-419: A small German counterattack, at the end of the month, recaptured the ground lost during Brevity. Operation Battleaxe , which started on 15 June, was a determined two-day effort to advance from Egypt and lift the siege of Tobruk. Italian-German forces repulsed the assault and no terrain was gained. Geopolitical considerations followed, as pressure built on the British commanders to launch a new offensive to break

2952-516: A speed above Mach 2, a 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb would have a range of several tens of kilometres. The MiG-25 was theoretically capable of a maximum speed exceeding Mach 3 and a ceiling of 27 km (89,000 ft). Its high speed was problematic: Although sufficient thrust was available to reach Mach 3.2, a limit of Mach 2.83 had to be imposed as the engines tended to overspeed and overheat at higher airspeeds, possibly damaging them beyond repair. The design cruising speed

3075-417: Is Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h) with partial afterburner in operation. The maximum speed of Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h) is allowed to maintain no more than 5 minutes due to the danger of overheating of the airframe and fuel in the tanks. When the airframe temperature reaches 290 °C (554 °F), the warning lamp lights up, and the pilot must reduce airspeed. The use of a partial afterburner and

3198-485: Is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union 's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is an aircraft built primarily using stainless steel . It was to be the last plane designed by Mikhail Gurevich , before his retirement. The first prototype flew in 1964 and the aircraft entered service in 1970. Although its thrust

3321-584: Is a far newer engine design. Full-scale production of the MiG-25R ("Foxbat-B") began in 1969 at the Gorkii aircraft factory (Plant No. 21). The MiG-25P ("Foxbat-A") followed in 1971, and 460 of this variant were built until production ended in 1982. The improved PD variant that replaced it was built from 1978 to 1984, with 104 aircraft completed. Subsequently, the Gorkii factory switched over production to

3444-559: Is due to the engines having extremely low pressure ratio of just 4.75 at subsonic speeds. The specific fuel consumption (SFC) of the engines is 1.12lb/(h·lbf) in cruise and 2.45lb/(h·lbf) with afterburners. For comparison purposes, this is 50% worse in cruise than the first generation of F100 engines from the F-15 Eagle, but the SFC with afterburners is actually nearly equal, though the F100

3567-619: Is not clear if the design was influenced by the American XF-108 Rapier and the A-5 Vigilante . The design bureau studied several possible layouts for the new aircraft. One had the engines located side by side, as on the MiG-19 . The second had a stepped arrangement with one engine amidships, with exhaust under the fuselage, and another in the aft fuselage. The third project had an engine arrangement similar to that of

3690-565: Is one of the reasons why it was replaced with the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31 , whose Zaslon radar has that capability.) By the time the MiG-25 entered service in 1969, this was a serious shortcoming, as strategic bombing doctrine was shifting towards low-level penetration of enemy territory. After Belenko's defection to Japan exposed this flaw to the West, a government decree issued on 4 November 1976 called for urgent development of

3813-605: The 2011 Libyan civil war , the Times of Malta and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protesters opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi . On 13 March 2011, Ali Atiyya, a colonel of the Libyan Air Force at the airport, defected and joined the anti-Gaddafi forces . On 21 August 2011, rebels launched an assault on Mitiga as part of a bid to battle loyalist forces in Tripoli, sustaining

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3936-462: The 2nd New Zealand Division , was able to resist Auchinleck's desired changes as his division was politically protected; any change required the consent of the New Zealand government. On 14 June, X Corps was ordered from Syria to reinforce the Eighth Army. It assembled near Mersa Matruh on 22 June and handed over the tanks of the 8th Armoured Brigade to the 1st Armoured Division; the brigade

4059-482: The 48th Tactical Fighter Wing , flying from the United Kingdom, to Libya. The raid included eighteen F-111 fighter-bombers, five General Dynamics–Grumman EF-111A Raven from the 66th Electronic Combat Wing / 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron , and carrier-based Navy F-14 Tomcats and A-6E Intruders . The EF-111s formed up with the attack force to provide electronic defense during the attack. One 48 TFW F-111F

4182-505: The English Electric Lightning , with two engines stacked vertically. Options two and three were both rejected because the size of the engines meant that either of them would result in a very tall aircraft, which would complicate maintenance. The idea of placing the engines in underwing nacelles was also rejected because of the dangers of any thrust asymmetry during flight. Having decided on engine configuration, there

4305-691: The Free French Forces , Greece , Newfoundland , New Zealand , Poland , Rhodesia , South Africa , Mauritius , as well as the United Kingdom. Significant formations that the army controlled included the British V , X , XIII , and XXX Corps , as well as the I Canadian Corps and the II Polish Corps . The Suez Canal in Egypt, was seen as a vital link of the British Empire connecting Britain with its colonial possessions in

4428-729: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at 22,000 m (72,000 ft) over the Baltic Sea in the 1980s. On 13 February 1981, the Israeli Air Force sent two RF-4 Es over Lebanon as decoys for Syrian MiG-25 interceptors. As the MiGs scrambled, the RF-4Es turned back delivering chaff and using ECM pods. Two IDF/AF F-15 As were waiting for the MiGs and shot one of them down with AIM-7F Sparrow missiles. The other MiG

4551-633: The Second World War . It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created to better control the growing Allied forces based in Egypt and to direct their efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader . It later directed Allied forces through the remaining engagements of

4674-513: The TL-25 Smerch-A (also referred to as Product 720 ) radar , a development of the system carried by the earlier Tu-128 . While powerful and thus long-ranged and resistant to jamming, the system—due to the age of its design and its intended purpose (tracking and targeting high- and fast-flying US bombers and reconnaissance aircraft )—lacked look-down/shoot-down capability, which limited its effectiveness against low-flying targets. (This

4797-993: The Tunisian campaign since November 1942, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered in May 1943. The Eighth Army then participated in the Italian Campaign which began with the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily , code-named Operation Husky. When the Allies subsequently invaded mainland Italy , elements of the Eighth Army landed in the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown and at Taranto in Operation Slapstick . After linking its left flank with

4920-571: The U.S. Fifth Army , led by General Mark W. Clark , which had landed at Salerno on the west coast of Italy south of Naples, the Eighth Army continued fighting its way up Italy on the eastern flank of the Allied forces. Together these two armies made up the Allied Armies in Italy (later redesigned 15th Army Group ), under General Sir Harold Alexander. At the end of 1943, General Montgomery

5043-560: The Western Desert campaign , oversaw part of the Allied effort during the Tunisian campaign and finally led troops throughout the Italian campaign . During 1943, it made up part of the 18th Army Group before being assigned to the 15th Army Group (later, the Allied Armies in Italy ). Throughout its campaigns, it was a multi-national force and its units came from Australia , British India , Canada , Czechoslovakia , Cyprus ,

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5166-574: The Ye-152P ). The first flight of the interceptor prototype, Ye-155-P1, took place on 9 September 1964. Development of the MiG-25, which represented a major step forward in Soviet aerodynamics , engineering and metallurgy , took several more years to complete. On 9 July 1967, the new aircraft was first shown to the public at the Domodedovo air show , with four prototypes (three fighters and

5289-548: The Australians were gradually replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division which was shipped into the port. During 1941, XIII Corps was the primary British formation in Egypt. The process of forming a second, initially known as the Armoured Corps before being renamed XXX Corps (this corps would not become active until October 1941), had also started. Due to the increased size of the British forces in Egypt and

5412-751: The Axis defeat and a pursuit across Libya to Tunisia. After the chase across Libya, the Eighth Army engaged in the Battle of the Mareth Line on the Tunisian border in February 1943, where it then came under the control of 18th Army Group . The army outflanked the Mareth defences in March 1943 and after further fighting alongside the First Army , the other 18th Army Group component, which had been conducting

5535-471: The Axis forces counterattacked. Ritchie initially dismissed the seriousness of the Axis move and Auchinleck deemed it wiser to yield some territory while the Eighth Army continued to build its logistical base for Acrobat. The 1st Armoured Division bore the brunt of the attack and was pushed back, while it covered the retreat of the remainder of the Eighth Army to Gazala where it established a defensive line. In February, Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen ,

5658-690: The Axis powers in Africa prior to development of any potential Japanese threat to the Middle East and the army's supply lines; supply convoys ran from the UK, around the Cape of Good Hope , and then through the Indian Ocean to the Middle East. In May, an Axis attack on the Eighth Army was expected although an optimistic attitude was held that it would be repulsed, and the Italian-German defeat would allow for

5781-605: The British zone of occupation in Austria and tried to take over part of that country as well. On 2 May 1945, the 2nd New Zealand Division of the Eighth Army liberated Trieste , and that same day, the Yugoslav Fourth Army, together with Slovene 9th Corpus NOV entered the town. During the fighting on the Italian Front the Eighth Army had, from 3 September 1943 until 2 May 1945, suffered 123,254 casualties. At

5904-525: The Cold War, the MiG-25 flew with Soviet allies and former Soviet republics, remaining in limited service in several export customers. It is one of the highest-flying military aircraft, one of the fastest serially produced interceptor aircraft, and the second-fastest serially produced aircraft after the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, which was built in very small numbers compared to the MiG-25. As of 2018 ,

6027-561: The Eighth Army and Ritchie. The latter, with no experience in desert warfare or command, retained the mentality of his prior positions rather than asserting his own authority and consulted with Auchinleck before taking action. This position is echoed by David French, who noted that Richie's subordinates believed Auchinleck held sway, that their orders came directly from Auchinleck without Richie making changes based on local conditions; Ritchie held lengthy conferences that did not deliver precise instructions. The Eighth Army retreated into Egypt with

6150-658: The Eighth Army continued the fight northwards through central Italy to capture Florence . The end of the summer campaign found Allied forces butting up against the Gothic Line . The Eighth Army returned to the Adriatic coast and succeeded in forcing the Gothic line defences, but ultimately the Allied forces could not break into the Po valley before the onset of winter forced an end to serious offensive operations. During October, Leese

6273-414: The Eighth Army was rather unscathed by the command changes. While it was a political necessity for Montgomery to distance himself from his predecessors, planning that Auchinleck, Dorman-Smith, Gott and de Guingand (who retained his position) had developed for defensive and offensive operations were retained and laid the groundwork for the following two battles at el Alamein. To address morale, Montgomery made

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6396-421: The F-15s untargeted. However the F-15 pilots were able to reacquire the two Iraqi MiG-25s and shot both down with AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. In another incident, an Iraqi MiG-25PD, after eluding eight USAF F-15s at long range, fired three missiles at General Dynamics EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft, forcing them to abort their mission and leave attacking aircraft without electronic jamming support. In

6519-423: The Far East, especially British India . It also held economic and prestigious importance. To maintain this, Egypt was occupied in 1882 and a protectorate was subsequently established. During the inter-war period , the Middle East and the canal gained further importance as oil production expanded and as aerial links between Britain and British India were developed. In 1935, British policy shifted to view Italy as

6642-402: The Germans using it for short range recon units, as well as coastal and naval recon units. Special weather recon units also existed at Mehalla. The main Luftwaffe unit stationed at the base was the 2nd Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14 or 2.(H)/14. The squadron was equipped with twelve single-engine Henschel Hs 126 , an aircraft with a 2-man crew, which could cover approx 710 km, with

6765-404: The Imperial General Staff , General Alan Brooke and Churchill arrived in Egypt in July, en route to Moscow . They emphasised the need to defeat the Axis forces in Egypt and Libya, as this would allow troops to be transferred elsewhere in the Middle East if German or Japanese forces prevailed on the other fronts. In a private meeting between Auchinleck, Dorman-Smith and Churchill, Auchinleck stated

6888-446: The Italian 10th Army and captured the Libyan province of Cyrenaica . The attack was undertaken by the Western Desert Force , which was renamed XIII Corps after the conclusion of the operation. After Operation Sonnenblume the dispatch of Axis reinforcements to Africa, Italo-German forces riposted in March 1941, which drove the main British body into Egypt and destroyed part of the 2nd Armoured Division . A sizeable Australian force

7011-486: The Mach 2 Convair B-58 Hustler , with the Mach 3 North American B-70 Valkyrie being developed at that time. A major upgrade in the PVO defence system was required in order to meet the higher and faster American strategic bombers. At the start of 1958, a requirement was issued for manned interceptors capable of reaching 3,000 km/h (1,600 kn) and heights of up to 27 km (89,000 ft). Mikoyan and Sukhoi responded. The Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB had been working on

7134-452: The MiG-25 remains the fastest manned serially produced aircraft in operational use and the fastest plane that was offered for supersonic flights and edge-of-space flights to civilian customers. During the Cold War, Soviet Air Defence Forces , PVO (not to be confused with Soviet Air Force , VVS) was given the task of strategic air defence of the USSR. This meant not only dealing with accidental border violations but more importantly defending

7257-444: The MiG-25 sparked concern in the West and prompted increases in performance requirements for the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle , then already under development in the late 1960s. The capabilities of the MiG-25 were better understood by the West in 1976 when Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected in a MiG-25 to the United States via Japan . Production of the MiG-25 series ended in 1984 after completion of 1,186 aircraft. A symbol of

7380-411: The Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB had difficulties choosing what materials to use for the aircraft. They had to use E-2 heat-resistant Plexiglas for the canopy and high-strength stainless steel for the wings and fuselage. Using titanium rather than steel would have been ideal, but it was expensive and difficult to work with. The problem of cracks in welded titanium structures with thin walls could not be solved, so

7503-409: The Moscow conference and spent two days with the Eighth Army culminating with his report that there had been "a complete change of atmosphere" within the army. At the end of August and stretching into September, the Eighth Army defeated the next Axis offensive, the Battle of Alam el Halfa . This was followed, in November, by the Eighth Army's offensive, the Second Battle of El Alamein that resulted in

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7626-426: The Smerch-A radar of the MiG-25P with the Saphir-25, based on the MiG-23 's Saphir-23, supplemented by an Infrared search and track (IRST) system. The ability to carry R-60 air-to-air missiles was added. A total of 104 MiG-25PDs were built from 1978 to 1984, while existing MiG-25Ps were modified to a similar standard to the PD as the MiG-255PDS . Work was also carried out to improve the MiG-25's performance, with

7749-410: The Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod. The analysis, based on technical manuals and ground tests of its engines and avionics, revealed unusual technical information: As the result of Belenko's defection and the compromise of the MiG-25P's radar and missile systems, beginning in 1976, the Soviets developed an updated version with a new fire control system, the MiG-25PD ("Foxbat-E"). The MiG-25PD replaced

7872-457: The Soviet 63rd Independent Air Detachment (Det 63), which was established for this mission. Det 63 flew over Israeli-held territory in Sinai on reconnaissance missions roughly 20 times. The flights were in pairs at maximum speed and high altitude, between 17,000 and 23,000 m (56,000 and 75,000 ft). On 6 November 1971, a Soviet MiG-25 operating out of Egypt flying at Mach 2.5 was met by Israeli F-4Es and fired upon unsuccessfully. A MiG-25

7995-430: The Western Desert Force. Churchill suggested General Henry Maitland Wilson for command of the army but the final decision was left in the hands of General Sir Claude Auchinleck the GOC Middle East Command who oversaw all British-led forces in the region. Auchinleck selected Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham , who had led the British effort from Kenya during the East African campaign . On 29 August 1941, due to

8118-416: The Ye-155 type belonged to class C1 (III), which specifies jet-powered land planes with unlimited maximum take-off weight. Records set included: In all, 29 records were claimed, of which seven were all-time world records for time to height, altitudes of 20,000 m (66,000 ft) and higher, and speed. Several records still stand. Because of the thermal stresses incurred in flight above Mach 2 ,

8241-429: The air base was converted to a second civilian airport for Tripoli, and was given its current name. The airport was originally built in 1923 by the Italian Air Force as Mellaha Air Base (الملاّحة). A motor racing circuit was subsequently built around the airport and Mellaha Lake began hosting the popular Tripoli Grand Prix in 1933. Mellaha was used by the German Luftwaffe during the North African Campaign , with

8364-438: The army retreated further, Ritchie was determined to fight the final battle of the campaign at Mersa Matruh. On 25 June, Auchinleck decided to take direct control of the Eighth Army; a move that was supported by Churchill, who had called for such a change before Gazala. This also saw the rise in prominence of Major-General Eric Dorman-Smith , Auchinleck's Middle East Command chief of staff. While Auchinleck and Dorman-Smith had

8487-419: The army, was nicknamed the Desert Rats after the Jerboa , their choice of mascot and insignia. George Forty , a historian who has written about the division, commented that the fame of the 7th Armoured Division resulted in its nickname being "loosely attached to any member of the forces who served in the Western Desert". Robin Neillands , in his work on the Eighth Army, wrote "It is worth pointing out here that

8610-456: The base was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base (seemingly after the legendary hero Uqba ibn Nafi ) and served as a Libyan People's Air Force (LPAF) installation. The base housed the LPAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities. In addition, aircraft and personnel of the Soviet Air Force took up residence at the base. LPAF Soviet-made MiG-17 / 19 / 25 fighters and Tu-22 bombers were based at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. Of

8733-430: The canal zone to Mersa Matruh , 170 mi (270 km) west of Alexandria in the Western Desert , to be in a position to protect Egypt from an Italian invasion from their Libyan colony . On 10 June 1940, Italy entered the Second World War . Later in the year, between 13 and 16 September, Italy conducted the Italian invasion of Egypt . A counterattack, Operation Compass , took place in December, which destroyed

8856-416: The capture of the remainder of Cyrenaica. The Battle of Gazala started on 26 May and resulted in a defeat for the Eighth Army. This included the Axis capture of Tobruk and 32,000 men (following a last-minute change in plans and the establishment of a garrison that included the 2nd South African Infantry Division ) and the Eighth Army was forced to retreat. Carver argued that Ritchie was not responsible for

8979-767: The combat aircraft, the US State Department estimated in 1983 that fifty percent remained in storage, including most of the MiG fighters and Tu-22 bombers. The base was a primary target of the 1986 United States bombing of Libya (Operation "El Dorado Canyon"), launched against Libya due to missile attacks on US aircraft and Libyan involvement in terrorist attacks against US servicemen in Europe. At 2 a.m. on 16 April 1986, Okba Ben Nafi AB, various Libyan government buildings, and three alleged Libyan terrorist training camps were bombed by General Dynamics F-111 Aardvarks from

9102-521: The coming MiG-31 showed more promise. Three MiG-25RB reconnaissance/strike aircraft were also modified with the R15BF2-300, which were used to set a series of time-to-height world records (under the designation Ye-266M) on 17 May 1975, and two altitude world records in 1977. The unarmed "B" version had greater impact than the interceptor when the USSR sent two MiG-25R and two MiG-25RB to Egypt in March 1971, which stayed until July 1972. They were operated by

9225-446: The commander XIII Corps, tendered his resignation as he believed Ritchie had ignored his advice during the retreat. At Gazala, Ritchie planned a new offensive while supply bases were established and work was conducted to lengthen the supporting railroads into Libya. Auchinleck informed his superiors in the UK, that there was no timetable for such an attack, it would have to wait until sufficient tank strength had been established. A policy

9348-409: The creation of a water pipeline and the laying of minefields, it was not until the arrival of the bulk of the Eighth Army that major improvements were made. While Auchinleck intended to stop the Axis offensive here, contingency plans were drawn up to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Suez Canal. A scorched earth policy was considered and dismissed but a list of targets to be destroyed in the event of

9471-443: The decision to appoint a new Eighth Army commander. Brooke suggested Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery , but Churchill preferred Lieutenant-General William Gott , who had been in action from the start of the Western Desert campaign . On the following day, Gott was killed after his aircraft was shot down while travelling to Cairo. Barr and Playfair both argue that Gott was worn out from the prolonged campaign and would not have been

9594-534: The end of the war, the army moved into Austria and became part of the Allied-occupation force . On 29 July 1945, the army was disbanded and its forces were used to form the command British Troops Austria . The new command maintained the gold crusader cross insignia of the Eighth Army. After the war, veterans from the Eighth Army organized Annual Reunions at the Royal Albert Hall . Then, in

9717-547: The final failed counter-attack, "Auchinleck then decided that he must make a long pause to rest, reorganize, and re-train his sadly battered army". In late July, Auchinleck appointed Brigadier Freddie de Guingand as the army chief of staff. The fighting in North Africa had caused concern with the British public and in the United States where Churchill had just visited to conduct the Second Washington Conference . This meeting finalized Allied policy for

9840-471: The first night of the war in the early hours of 17 January 1991 by a missile fired by a MiG-25. The kill was reportedly made with a Bisnovat R-40 TD missile fired from a MiG-25PDS flown by Lt. Zuhair Dawood of the 84th squadron of the IQAF, Two IQAF MiG-25s were shot down by U.S. Air Force F-15s on 19 January. The MiGs attempted to hide from the F-15s by using chaff and electronic jammers in order to engage

9963-671: The following two years, there would be no Operation Sledgehammer a landing in German-occupied France and Operation Torch , a landing in French North Africa , was authorized to be conducted before the end of 1942. Case Blue the German advance into Caucasus as well as the Japanese threat influenced Auchinleck's thinking on the disposition of his theatre-wide forces, including the Eighth Army. The Chief of

10086-703: The forming second corps, it was decided in September 1941, that a field army headquarters was needed to direct these formations. On 10 September, the Western Army headquarters was established in Cairo . The name was subsequently changed to the Army of the Nile, before being changed to the Eighth Army on 26 September. Winston Churchill , the British Prime Minister , sometimes referred to the army as

10209-551: The ground. In August 2003, several dozen Iraqi aircraft were discovered buried in the sand. The MiG-25 was kept a guarded secret in India, designated Garuda after the large mythical bird of Vishnu from Hindu scriptures. It was used extensively in the Kargil War and Operation Parakram , conducting aerial reconnaissance sorties over Pakistan. In May 1997, an Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-25RB reconnaissance aircraft created

10332-416: The heavier nickel steel was used instead. It cost far less than titanium and allowed for welding, along with heat-resistant seals. The MiG-25 was constructed from 80% nickel-steel alloy , 11% aluminium , and 9% titanium . The steel components were formed by a combination of spot welding , automatic machine welding , and hand arc welding methods. Initially, the interceptor version was equipped with

10455-564: The infantry that could not be motorised and would take up static positions. This was initially intended to be along the Libyan–Egyptian frontier, before they were directed to El Alamein to dig-in. Ian Playfair , the author of the official history, highlighted that British doctrine stated that during a retreat, a running battle was to be avoided and thus Auchinleck's changes – in the midst of a retreat and fighting – went against establish practice. Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg , commander of

10578-520: The intent to rebuild. Barr noted that this could have worked, had the Italian-German forces maintained their strategy of Operation Herkules , the capture of Malta. Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel , commander of the Panzer Army Africa , made the decision to pursue the Eighth Army, which turned the retreat into a rout and made any attempt to fight a delaying battle on the frontier impossible. As

10701-620: The late 1970s, the Eighth Army Veterans Association was formed. At the height of its membership, there were over 35 branches, with a particular strength in the North West of the UK. Footnotes Citations Original units: Replacement units: Artillery: (some original units, some replacements) Outside units: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 ( Russian : Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25 ; NATO reporting name : Foxbat )

10824-609: The loss of equipment and unit cohesion its divisions were in need of rest and refitting following the battle. By 30 June, the vanguard of the Axis forces made contact with the Eighth Army at El Alamein. This new position offered a stronger defensive position, with its northern flank protected by the Mediterranean coast and by the Qattara Depression impassable salt marshes 40 mi (64 km) inland. While preliminary defensive work had taken place, which included

10947-433: The loss of the battle, that was shouldered by his subordinates "for the dilatory fashion in which they exercised command". Niall Barr, who wrote about the desert fighting in 1942, stated that Richie was too slow to react at key moments and that his "passivity doomed Bir Hakeim to slow strangulation and capture", which contributed to the defeat. The official history explained this was the result of Auchinleck's influence over

11070-635: The new MiG-31 . Western intelligence first encountered the MiG-25 at the Moscow air show on July 8 and 9, where it was assessed as a fighter-bomber and all-weather interceptor capable of speeds in excess of Mach 2.5. It was not believed at that time to have been in series production. NATO obtained a better understanding of the MiG-25's capabilities on 6 September 1976, when a Soviet Air Defence Forces pilot, Lt. Viktor Belenko , defected , landing his MiG-25P at Hakodate Airport in Japan. The pilot overshot

11193-534: The opposition movement. During the 2019–20 Western Libya campaign , the airport, held by military units loyal to the Government of National Accord , was repeatedly targeted with airstrikes from the opposing Libyan National Army in order to enforce a no-fly zone declared by the LNA several days prior. On 8 April 2019, an airport spokesman announced that the airport was forced to close due to airstrikes. TunisAir

11316-422: The person to rejuvenate the Eighth Army. Montgomery arrived and assumed command on 15 August. Alexander and Montgomery made sweeping changes to commands, reversed Auchinleck's changes to the divisions, and took action to rebuild the morale of the troops. The various changes were dubbed the "fortnight of confusion" by Dorman-Smith. Barr highlighted that the "fortnight of confusion" has generally been overstated and

11439-638: The point that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had no aircraft in its inventory that could come close to the MiG-25's cruising altitude (up to 23,000 metres (74,000 ft)). India denied the incident but Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan, believed that the Foxbat photographed strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad . Lack of spare parts and India's acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite imagery eventually led to its retirement in 2006. Subsequently, six out of

11562-570: The principal threat towards British interests in the Middle East, due to their colonial ambitions as well as their military build-up and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 followed, before tensions simmered with a joint declaration, on 2 January 1937, by Italy and Britain to maintain the status quo around the Mediterranean. Relations quickly deteriorated and British reinforcements were dispatched to Egypt. Troops were moved from near Cairo and from

11685-528: The runway on landing and damaged the front landing gear. Despite Soviet protests, the Japanese invited U.S. Air Force personnel to investigate the aircraft. On 25 September, it was moved by a C-5A transport to a base in central Japan, where it was carefully dismantled and analyzed. After 67 days, the aircraft was returned by ship to the Soviets, in pieces. The aircraft was reassembled and is now on display at

11808-568: The siege. These took account of the majority of the German military being involved in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union and the need to show that British forces were doing their part in bringing about the defeat of the Axis powers. Closer to the front and after months of political debate, it was decided that the Australian garrison in Tobruk had to be relieved. This took place between September and October, as

11931-564: The success he had achieved, he was ordered to Egypt to take command of the forming Eighth Army, which he did on 24 September. The Eighth Army was responsible for operations in the Western Desert and was supported by the existing command, British Troops in Egypt , that controlled the lines of communication , the Egyptian anti-aircraft defences and internal security behind the front. The 7th Armoured Division , which formed part of

12054-461: The term 'Desert Rat', though often used to describe any soldier of the Desert Army or the men who fought in Tobruk – the Australians have a ' Rats of Tobruk ' Association – should strictly be applied only to the men of the British 7th Armoured Division". One of the first tasks undertaken by the Eighth Army, with X Corps (Lieutenant-General William Holmes ) that had recently arrived in Egypt,

12177-600: The two Ye-152 aircraft) was intended to be the definite heavy interceptor design. But before it was finished, the PVO had selected the Tupolev Tu-128 . As the work on the MiG-25 was well under way, the single-engine Ye-152M was abandoned. Work on the new Soviet interceptor that became the MiG-25 started in mid-1959, a year before Soviet intelligence learned of the American Mach 3 A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. It

12300-610: The vast airspace of the USSR against US reconnaissance aircraft and strategic bombers carrying free-fall nuclear bombs. The performance of these types of aircraft was steadily improved. In the late 1950s, the very high altitude overflights of Soviet territory by the Lockheed U-2 revealed the need for a higher altitude interceptor aircraft than available at that time. In addition, the subsonic Boeing B-47 Stratojet and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers were followed by

12423-430: The wings had fixed wingtip tanks with a 600 L (160 US gal) capacity, to which small winglets were attached for stability purposes, but when it was found that fuel sloshing around in the tanks caused vibrations, they were eliminated. The aircraft also had attachments for movable foreplanes, canards , to help with pitch control at high speed (provisions for canards had previously been installed, but not used, on

12546-451: Was able to escape. In a similar engagement, on 29 July 1981, a Syrian MiG-25 was again downed by an Israeli F-15A, after which a second MiG-25 launched its R-40 missiles at the F-15 and its wingman, but they missed. The first reported activity of Syrian MiG-25 aircraft in the civil war was on 8 February 2014, when two Turkish Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept a Syrian MiG-25 which

12669-485: Was also adopted that if forced to retreat, there would be no repeat of the siege of Tobruk. The same month, due to the Japanese entry into the war in December 1941, the 70th Infantry Division was withdrawn from the Eighth Army and sent to Asia. A warning that additional troops could be removed loomed over the army. Political pressure mounted for the Eighth Army to launch an offensive, which would support Malta and defeat

12792-599: Was approaching the Turkish border. All confirmed air-to-air kills by the MiG-25 were made by Iraq. The MiG-25 was in service with the Iraqi Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War . Iraqi claimed their MiG-25s shot down at least 15 Iranian aircraft during the war, while only one MiG-25 was lost in air combat (one more lost by SAM ) The most successful Iraqi MiG-25 pilot of the war was Colonel Mohommed Rayyan , who

12915-519: Was compounded by a lack of experience in controlling formations or desert fighting and that for the ten-day period after his appointment, Auchinleck remained at Eighth Army headquarters and was effectively in command. Following Crusader, Ritchie and Auchinleck planned Operation Acrobat , an attack to capture the remainder of Italian Libya, Tripolitania (potentially in conjunction with an Allied landing in French Morocco ). In late January 1942,

13038-658: Was covertly switched from the Adriatic coast in April 1944 to concentrate all forces, except the V Corps , on the western side of the Apennine Mountains alongside the U.S. Fifth Army in order to mount a major offensive with them. This fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was successful with the Eighth Army breaking into central Italy and the Fifth Army entering Rome in early June. After the Allied capture of Rome,

13161-445: Was credited with ten kills. Eight of these kills were achieved while he flew the MiG-25PD from 1981 to 1986. In 1986, after attaining the rank of colonel, Rayyan was shot down and killed by Iranian F-14s. For the majority of the air combat Iraqi pilots used R-40 missiles. According to research by journalist Tom Cooper, Iran claimed that ten MiG-25s (nine reconnaissance and one fighter) may have been shot down by Iranian F-14s (one kill

13284-451: Was later a field marshal and historian, concurred with the health assessment. He also noted that while Cunningham was "an imaginative choice", it was later clear his "appointment was a mistake" due to his lack of experience and confidence in the mobile requirements of the fighting in North Africa. Neillands highlighted that Ritchie was thrust into a position where he, a major-general, was now charged with overseeing those who outranked him. This

13407-425: Was lost presumably to a surface-to-air missile or AAA hit. The 48 TFW that bombed the base had practiced for years with F-100s at this very same air base when it was Wheelus Air Base and later at Zaragoza AB Spain with F-4D Phantoms and F-111s for similar missions. Okba Ben Nafi AB was converted for civilian use and became Mitiga Airport in 1995. The airport also housed the headquarters of Buraq Air . During

13530-440: Was reassigned to South East Asia Command , and Lieutenant-General Sir Richard L. McCreery , who had previously commanded X Corps, replaced him. The final offensive in Italy saw the Eighth Army back in action. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Fifth Army, now commanded by Lucian K. Truscott , on its left flank, it cut off and destroyed, (during April), large parts of the opposing Army Group C defending Bologna and then made

13653-532: Was sent to the canal area to rebuild. Four days later, the Battle of Mersa Matruh began. While there were some tactical successes, by the evening of the next day, the Eighth Army started to withdraw. Due to communication breakdowns and tactical changes, the New Zealand Division was surrounded and had to fight its way out. X Corps was out of radio contact and were not informed of the withdrawal until 28 June, when they were able to escape although due to

13776-524: Was shared with an F-5 ) during the Iran–Iraq war. Only three MiG-25 losses (to ground fire or air combat) were confirmed by Iraq. Confirmed MiG-25 combat losses during the Iran–Iraq war: The MiG-25 was also used as a strike aircraft during the war, targeting Iranian cities. During the Persian Gulf War , a U.S. Navy F/A-18 , piloted by Lieutenant Commander Scott Speicher , was shot down on

13899-489: Was shot down and fell in Saudi Arabia. After the war, on 27 December 1992, a U.S. F-16D downed an IQAF MiG-25 that violated the no-fly zone in southern Iraq with an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. It was the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory and the first AMRAAM kill. On 23 December 2002, an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down a U.S. Air Force unmanned MQ-1 Predator drone, which was performing armed reconnaissance over Iraq. This

14022-593: Was studied on both sides of the Iron Curtain . The perennial problem with engines dedicated to vertical lift is they become mere dead weight in horizontal flight and also occupy space in the airframe needed for fuel. The MiG interceptor would need all the fuel it could get, so the idea was abandoned. The first prototype was a reconnaissance variant, designated Ye-155-R1, that made its first flight on 6 March 1964. It had some characteristics that were unique to that prototype, and some of these were visually very evident:

14145-406: Was sufficient to reach Mach 3.2+, its speed was limited to prevent engines from overheating at higher air speeds and possibly seriously damaging them, and therefore the operational top speed was limited to Mach 2.83. The MiG-25 features a powerful radar and four air-to-air missiles , and it still has the world record for reached altitude of 38 km (125,000 ft). The appearance of

14268-489: Was surrounded in the Libyan port of Tobruk . This led to the siege of Tobruk and required the bulk of the German and Italian troops to maintain and hindered further large Axis offensive operations. On 15 May, Operation Brevity was launched as British troops, from inside Egypt, attacked towards the Egyptian–Libyan border area. This minor effort failed to meet its objectives and ended the following day. Operation Skorpion

14391-464: Was the first foreign carrier to resume flights to the airport, in May 2021. [REDACTED] Media related to Mitiga International Airport at Wikimedia Commons Eighth Army (United Kingdom) 1941 1942 Associated articles Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during

14514-593: Was the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat. Predators had been armed with AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles and were being used to "bait" Iraqi fighter aircraft, then run. In this incident, the Predator did not run, but instead fired one of the Stingers, which missed, while the MiG's missile did not. No Iraqi aircraft were deployed in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with most Iraqi aircraft being hidden or destroyed on

14637-515: Was thought of giving the machine variable-sweep wings and a second crew member, a navigator. Variable geometry would improve manoeuvrability at subsonic speed, but at the cost of decreased fuel tank capacity. Because the reconnaissance aircraft would operate at high speed and high altitude, the idea was soon dropped. Another interesting but impractical idea was to improve the field performance using two RD36-35 lift-jets. Vertical takeoff and landing would allow for use of damaged runways during wartime and

14760-438: Was to conduct preliminary work on defensive positions at El Alamein . This lasted until late October, when the corps moved to Syria and British Troops in Egypt took over responsibility. From his appointment, Cunningham closely worked with Auchinleck to formulate the Crusader plan, which was to retake Cyrenaica and lift the siege of Tobruk. The Eighth Army established forward supply bases, field maintenance centres and constructed

14883-746: Was tracked flying over Sinai at Mach 3.2 during this period. The MiG-25 engines went into overspeed , which caused them to be scrapped. Det 63 was sent back home in 1972. Soviet-operated reconnaissance Foxbats returned to Egypt in 19–20 October 1973, during the Yom Kippur War . Det 154 remained in Egypt until late 1974. During the 1970s, the Soviet air force conducted reconnaissance overflights across Iran using its MiG-25RBSh aircraft in response to joint U.S.–Iran reconnaissance operations . The Swedish Air Force observed Soviet Air Defence MiG-25s via radar regularly performing intercepts at 19,000 m (62,000 ft) and 2.9 km (1.8 mi) behind

15006-468: Was transferred to Britain to begin preparations for Operation Overlord . Command of the Eighth Army was given to Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese , previously the commander of XXX Corps, which was being returned to England. Following three unsuccessful attempts in early 1944 by the U.S. Fifth Army to break through the German defensive positions known to the Allies as the Winter Line , the Eighth Army

15129-535: Was used by Air Transport Command . It functioned as a stopover en route to Benina Airport near Benghazi or to Tunis Airport , Tunisia on the North African Cairo - Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. On 15 April 1945, Mellaha AAF was taken over by USAAF 's Air Training Command . It was renamed Wheelus Army Air Field (AAF) on 17 May 1945 in honor of USAAF Lieutenant Richard Wheelus who had died earlier that year in

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