According to Washington, the Israeli Air Force incurred the loss of 105 aircraft plus two helicopters during the recent Arab-Israeli conflict. Such losses were twice those incurred during the Six-Day War, June 1967
A telling aspect of the Yom Kippur War was that little more than ten percent of Israeli aircraft losses were the result of air combat; as opposed to the ninety percent lost due to anti-aircraft fire. The older anti-aircraft missile systems, SA-2 and SA-3 logged few kills. Not so SA-6 and SA-7 missile batteries, and, the ZSU-23-4 mobile multiple 23 mm AA mounts. The most potent, though, was the SA-6
According to a Dutch UN observer, the SA-6 reaped a sizable number of Israeli aircraft, including 30 in a single day over Syria. The Israelis, though, did employ special observation helicopters to spot missile launches and provide warnings to attacking aircraft. International Defense Review, December 1973.
Source: Page 4, Army Aviation, Vol. 23, No. 4, Army Aviation Publications, Inc., Westport, Ct., April 1974.
