The Arsenal

The Mirage IIICJ was the primary Israeli fighter in 1967, a French-built supersonic interceptor modified for the Israeli Air Force with air-to-air missiles and bomb racks. On the morning of June 5, waves of Mirages flew low over the Mediterranean (below Egyptian radar coverage) before climbing and attacking airfields across Egypt in synchronized strikes timed to arrive when Egyptian pilots were at breakfast and their command structure was in transition. The aircraft flew up to four combat sorties each on that first day — an unprecedented operational tempo achieved through intensive pre-war training on rapid ground turnaround.

The Israeli-modified Centurion — called 'Sho't' (whip) — was the backbone of Israeli armored forces in Sinai and the Golan Heights. The British Centurion Mk 5 had been upgraded with a 105mm L7 gun and Continental diesel engine, replacing the original petrol engine that had been a fire hazard. Israeli tankers had trained extensively in the desert tactics the British Army had pioneered in WWII's North African campaign: flanking attacks, night movement, and aggressive exploitation of breakthroughs. At Abu-Ageila in Sinai, Israeli armor broke through a heavily fortified Egyptian defensive position in a night attack — achieving surprise by attacking when Egyptian commanders believed armor could not operate in darkness.

The Super Sherman was Israel's uniquely upgraded variant of the American WWII-era M4 Sherman tank, extensively rebuilt for modern warfare. The M-50 received a French CN 75-50 gun capable of penetrating Soviet T-34 armor; the M-51 went further with a French D-1508 105mm gun powerful enough to defeat T-54/55 tanks. Israeli workshops replaced the petrol engine with a diesel, widened the hull, and modified the suspension to handle the heavier armament. In the 1967 war, Super Shermans served alongside Centurions in all three Sinai divisions and in the Jerusalem fighting, where their maneuverability in urban terrain proved valuable.

Egyptian and Syrian armored forces were equipped primarily with Soviet T-54 and T-55 tanks — capable weapons that had been the primary Soviet tank since the early 1950s. The T-54's 100mm gun could penetrate any Israeli vehicle, and its armor was proof against most Israeli anti-tank weapons at combat ranges. Egypt fielded over 900 tanks in Sinai alone. On paper, Arab armor should have been decisive. In practice, Egyptian armored operations in Sinai collapsed rapidly because commanders lacked initiative, communication between units was poor, and the retreat order — issued prematurely by Nasser without informing frontline commanders — turned an orderly withdrawal into a rout. Hundreds of T-54s were abandoned intact when their crews fled, some still armed and fueled.

Israel also fielded American-supplied M48 Patton tanks, upgraded with the same 105mm L7 gun used on the Centurion. The M48 saw action primarily in the West Bank fighting against Jordanian armor — a theater where its firepower advantage over Jordan's M47 Pattons and Centurions was decisive. Jordan's Arab Legion was the most professional Arab army engaged in 1967 and used its M48s and Centurions competently, making the West Bank fighting harder than the Sinai collapse. But without air cover and with Israeli forces attacking from multiple directions, Jordanian armor was systematically destroyed.

The Fouga Magister was a French two-seat jet trainer repurposed by Israel as a close air support and ground attack aircraft — lightly armed, slow, but available in numbers. While Mirage fighters struck Egyptian airfields, Fougas attacked armored columns, artillery positions, and troop concentrations in immediate support of ground forces. In the battle for the Sinai passes and the destruction of Egyptian forces in retreat, Fougas strafed the jammed Mitla Pass for hours — a shooting gallery of burning vehicles, abandoned guns, and fleeing soldiers. The carnage at Mitla became one of the war's defining images.

The Soviet MiG-21 was the most modern fighter in the Arab arsenal — a Mach 2 interceptor that, in capable hands, could outfight any Israeli aircraft in certain conditions. Egypt had received dozens of MiG-21s from the Soviet Union to defend against potential Israeli or Western air strikes. Had Egypt's MiG-21s been airborne and organized when Operation Focus began, the air battle would have been far more costly for Israel. Instead, the vast majority were destroyed on the ground at their airfields in the first Israeli wave. A handful of MiG-21s that managed to get airborne were engaged and shot down by Israeli Mirages in brief dogfights.

Jordan's small but competent air force was equipped with British Hawker Hunter fighter-bombers — subsonic but capable aircraft with experienced pilots trained in the RAF tradition. On the morning of June 5, Jordanian Hunters flew ground attack missions against Israeli airfields and military positions, causing some damage. But when Israel's second wave of aircraft turned to Jordan, the Jordanian Air Force was destroyed on the ground within hours. Jordan's 21 Hunters, spread across two airfields, were eliminated. Jordan fought the rest of the war without any air cover.

Egypt's Soviet-supplied SA-2 (S-75 Dvina) surface-to-air missile system was the primary threat to Israeli airpower — the same system that had shot down Francis Gary Powers' U-2 over the Soviet Union in 1960. Egyptian SA-2 batteries were positioned to defend Cairo, the Canal Zone, and key airfields. Israel's attack planning specifically targeted SA-2 sites to suppress them before or alongside airfield strikes, using a combination of Matra AS-30 air-to-ground missiles and conventional bombing. The destruction of Egyptian radar and SAM sites in the opening minutes made subsequent low-altitude airfield attacks much safer.

Israeli artillery — primarily 155mm self-propelled howitzers and towed guns — played a critical but often overlooked role in the 1967 war. In the Golan Heights battle, where steep basalt cliffs and fortified Syrian positions made direct tank approaches suicidal, Israeli artillery provided the suppression that allowed infantry and armor to advance. At Abu-Ageila, Ariel Sharon massed 12 artillery battalions — over 100 guns — to create a massive barrage that silenced Egyptian artillery and paralyzed the garrison while paratroopers landed and tanks advanced. The concentration of artillery at Abu-Ageila was one of the highest gun densities per frontage since World War II.