US Navy F-14s Shoot Down Two Libyan MiG-23s, 1989 - Animated

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Outgoing US President Ronald Reagan continues his aggressive posture towards Libya, authorising more lenient rules of engagement against Libyan aircraft in the area. Two MiG-23 Floggers take off from Tobruk and fly towards the carrier USS John F Kennedy, and two F-14 Tomcats are vectored to intercept in international airspace.
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[@TheOperationsRoom]

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[@Newdivide]

Already did! You guys rock! Glad you made the 1989 gulf of sidra incident

[@whydoyougottahavthis]

Try to read The Last Hundred Yards or The Tiger's Way to make your videos better

[@SandMartin]

Hi "The Operation RooM"! Can I translate some of your videos into Russian language for my channel and upload them with links to your channel? My translations are not monetized, I do not place ads, I do it on enthusiasm. Your videos have educational and historical value.

[@waitingforanalibi2224]

Just one correction, He was executed in the street by locals.

[@jason200912]

Are the two channels the same content?

[@utp216]

The cockpit audio of this encounter is wild!

[@HealthySkepticism1775]

Oh Jesus!

[@mtgAzim]

@@HealthySkepticism1775 "I don't have a 'f*cking' tone!"

[@coltseavers6298]

Yea. I VHS taped it off of a PBS news show with all the F-Bombs in all their glory as the network shows bleeped them. I feel if you are going to show combat-which involves deaths-on TV that NOT bleeping curse words helps show the public just how stressful these life-and-death situations can be.

[@macbrown99]

As an avionics technician, it's good to know that military pilots are just as capable of finger problems as general aviation pilots.

[@karlrytter7738]

Anyone have a link to this?

[@Havoc1505]

He had some more "spicy" words about the missile tone and you know it

[@JimD-jr3xe]

"I can't, I don't have a fuckin' tone!" Yes, I still remember that like yesterday.

[@MarkHarrison-bo3kf]

Damn straight.

[@FloridaManMatty]

I still laugh every time I hear Cook. He sounds so irritated. Like “Yeah bro, I fly these things too, ya know?” “I CAN’T! I don’t have a FU_KING TOOOONE”.

[@GeraltofRivia5150]

This channel is what the History Channel should be. Amazing work, please keep it up and thank you.

[@atakorkut5110]

Actually the history channel had some really really really really great contact until they pick basically became discovery channel part two

[@iantheturtle]

@@atakorkut5110 yea, back in the day (somewhere around 2013) they had some great documentaries on the WWII in the pacific and also on the gulf war (part 1 or 2 idk, might not even be gulf war lol, but it was about the Abrams and its’ sabot rounds against soviet tanks). Damn interesting stuff

[@Barwasser]

brother?

[@MonsterHDE]

@@atakorkut5110 I remember being a young kid 5-14 staying up at my gmas watching history channel as I never had it at my parents house. I would watch war documentaries all night long

[@Asrtyulg]

This is what the *Military* history channel should be, history is a much broader subject

[@jonathan_careless]

Damn the most chilling part of that video is the down pilots never been rescued. Just floating in their life preserves until the die of thirst, hunger or get eaten by sharks. Brutal.

[@treyhelms5282]

There might be a chance they were picked up by some civilians? Lots of boat traffic most places.

[@drinksnapple8997]

Welcome to Naval warfare. Don't like it...stay in the trenches.

[@prozergter2]

I think they knew they would face certain death if they made it back to Lybia, for you know failing Gaddafi, so maybe they just noped out and quietly disappeared into the Mediterranean.

[@sebastien3351]

Correction, the flight leader of of the MiG-23s was rescued by Libyan air-sea rescue group but, his wingman was not! I feel sorry for the Libyan pilots for they were went on a mission to simply challenge the US forces. The MiG-23s never turned on their radars which is why neither Tomcat reported being "locked-up" by the MiG-23's radar. I was happy to see in this video some mention of the Camile flight of F-14s patrolling north of Tobruk. This was the first video on this topic to do so!

[@sebastien3351]

The MiG-23 Floggers were under the control of Libyan ground control intercept (GCI). Which is why the F-14A Tomcats nor the E-2C Hawkeye never detected radar activity by the MiG-23MFs. As far back as 1981 Libyan Su-22s fired on two F-14s and, the F-14s shot down the two Su-22s. Another incident in1986 Libyan Mirage jets fired on a USAF intel C-130, 83 miles off the Libyan coast, near the Island of Malta. So on 01/04/89, the F-14s took no chance after seven plus minutes of aggressive maneuvering, the MiG-23s countering the Tomcat’s movements, the F-14s fired on and killed the MiG-23s. The Mig leader saved by Libyan search and rescue while, the MiG wingman’s body was never found. After the 01/04/89 incident the US and Libyan government’s and Air forces sat down wrote down what is considered hostile actions and, there should not be any further incidents.

[@Newdivide]

2:30 the plane is pan am flight 103. Investigation found that the bomb was hidden in a suitcase. It was in fact, guise in a Toshiba radio cassette player. The explosives used were semtex and PETN. They also found fragments of clothing that were traced to a shop in Malta. The owner identified Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent, as the bomber. He was convicted and sentenced to life behind bars. He was released on medical grounds and died on 20 May 2012 in his home in Tripoli from prostate cancer

[@mikeymike9926]

How the fuck do you take down an airliner and still get released

[@abdal.m4029]

So the shop owner somehow remembered a guy buying a pair of pants months ago? That's the ground breaking evidence to send someone for life in prison?

[@Domhnall_A_Ghalltachd]

@@mikeymike9926 Not everyone is convinced that he did it.

[@AShadowboxsFSX]

@@abdal.m4029 I'm assuming this commenter didn't detail every single piece of evidence that was put before the jury. Just because that's how they got the lead doesn't mean that was the only piece of evidence they had.

[@HiringHamblin]

@@mikeymike9926 The Scottish Justice Secretary decided that it would be mean to let al-Megrahi die of cancer in prison (let's remember that all of the Lockerbie/Pan AM 103 victims were spared the possible fate of dying of cancer [or anything but an awful fiery death]). Three years would pass between his release and his last breath

[@physetermacrocephalus2209]

Its sad the Libyan pilots were never rescued even after surviving air combat.

[@asintonic]

are you positive about that!?

[@sandwitht6264]

@@asintonic you seem to know something most of us dont

[@jonny-b4954]

They weren't? That's crazy. You'd think America would have sent something out to get them.

[@jonny-b4954]

@@asintonic I mean, that's what they mentioned in the video. Libyan Air Force wasn't able to pick them up.

[@captainpiggz6391]

@@jonny-b4954 In a perfect world they would’ve never been fighting in the first place. But the US can’t justify putting its own soldiers in danger to potentially rescue hostile pilots. Mind you these pilots just tried to kill American pilots.

[@Lost_Hwasal]

I work on aircraft for a living and i find your coverage of the middle east in the late 80s and early 90s fascinating. As many know the Afghanistan war was asymmetric, and US/Nato airpower was virtually uncontested. This time period you are covering is essentially the most modern example of what an air war would look like. I would love if you ever cover this on your intel channel if you touch on the differences in aircraft technology in these conflicts and how they contributed to the outcomes of these sorties.

[@sledgehammerk35]

Ward Carroll has a great analysis of this engagement on his channel. Turns out the RIO in Gypsy 207 made quite a few errors.

[@GabrielMatusSF]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKqwl3ZpgpWZkLM

[@-TheRealChris]

2nd this, Ward Carroll's video covering this is second to none, definitely the most informed i have seen

[@andyaim4764]

Agreed!! The American pilots were lucky their errors didn’t result in a mishap.

[@ironroad18]

Yeah, it seems the senior RIO jumped the gun literally and figuratively, which is why you hear "oh jesus!" over the radio.

[@sturiot]

The lack of sidewinder tone was also due to the fact that he still had Sparrow missiles selected instead of sidewinder. He gets tone when he realizes his mistake and switches the weapon selector.

[@iain-duncan]

This channel has absolutely exploded in popularity. Thank God for that, its my favorite military history channel yet!

[@superm.3199]

Yes ! It is, indeed an amzing channel and I feel lucky I explored it when it was kinda unpopular

[@SevenRiderAirForce]

I saw "Tobruk" at the bottom of the video next to "F-14" in the video title and momentarily questioned everything I thought I knew about WWII.

[@DarthWindu06]

I have been binging your videos for the past few days and everytime they just keep getting better! Keep up the great work👌

[@sid2112]

You'll find that you keep coming back to them. Very rewatchable.

[@yeettheheat]

Pilot: "So you know how we are supposed to Turn Up the Volume to a Level were we notice when we have a Missile Lock?" Wingman: 🗿

[@jamiegumm4398]

Fox 2! ! !

[@stephenrodwell8125]

I vividly remember this being reported on the evening news ... another great Ops Room video, I'll definitely be subscribing to the new channel! 😊

[@alexsmith5501]

Thanks

[@jaybee9269]

Generally well done! (VFA-32 is the FIGHTING Swordsmen, though and RIO is RADAR Intercept Officer. Also MiG-23s typically have only one pilot.)

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

These were two seat variants.

[@Platycqb]

@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 Two seaters Floggers were trainer versions. They could fire AAM, but I doubt even the Libyans would send 2 trainers to do an aerial intercept.

[@southseasflying]

@@Platycqb Assuming it was an aerial intercept. Analysis shows their target radar was never on and it was doubtful they ever saw the F-14s until the missiles flew by, at which point they possibly turned to escape. By all rights the two F-14s won a glorious battle against two trainees learning to fly their jet.

[@NefariousKoel]

@@southseasflying - It was obviously a GCI coordinated intercept. The MiG's intercept course adjustments indicate just that. Those MiGs didn't need to have their radar on as the ground radar controllers had much more powerful radars and Soviet doctrine trained for intercepts via GCI.

[@ГеоргийМурзич]

@@southseasflying mIg-23ub didn't have any radar at all

[@yellowcub86]

Subscribed to the new channel. Brilliant work guys, thank you for all the hard work

[@atakorkut5110]

Wow the intel report is a genuinely phenomenal and original take on these campaigns.

[@riane3100]

You bring a smile to my face every time I see a new upload.

[@1jbbrady723]

So excited when one of these vids come out. Love them

[@EB-Ghost6]

Awesome video, easy to follow, and really cool animation ideas. 10/10

[@3rdlineplug]

So happy I was able to find the other channel too. Between this channel, The Intel Report, and Armchair Historian; you guys set the standard for military history. Amazing work

[@txstypotato435]

Look at me hector.

[@BeanBonanzer]

lol

[@galaxyproductions2076]

Ding. Ding. Dingdingdingdngdingding

[@BeanBonanzer]

@@galaxyproductions2076 lol😂

[@BeanBonanzer]

aaaahhhhhhhhhh…..boooom

[@HectorJimenez-ee9zi]

I'm looking

[@rossbabcock2974]

Great video! Well researched, factual and well presented! I'm a Marine vet looking forward to the Island Campaign series!

[@hunterswartz3160]

We finally get the operations report on this!! It’s been years since I first saw the cockpit footage!

[@aegystierone8505]

Thanks!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks!

[@therocinante3443]

Man, The Intel Report is an EXCELLENT supplement to this channel. Thank you so much!

[@ItsManana]

Awesome video. Great work as always. I remember I was in Brazil and found out Gaddafi had been killed from the local paper one morning. Our group had a whole discussion about it in the hotel lobby. Gotta love study abroad groups lol.

[@ethical3429]

This Intel channel is what I was really looking for. Thanks alot. Looking forward to more quality content.

[@Coinz8]

He already has one video up and ita good.

[@teddy.d174]

Brilliant video mate, looking forward to the new channel. Congratulations and 🍻 from 🇺🇸

[@unskilledpanda5]

I highly recommend Growling Sidewinder’s video about this incident. He goes in depth on what the pilots may be thinking and how stressful this situation really is for the F14 pilots

[@MoistGrundle]

If you're a fan of Growling Sidewinder's videos, the tone and shouting you hear in the intro is the audio of this encounter.

[@17Scumdog]

Ah yea! I was wondering about that! Thanks!

[@jamesg2382]

I love these videos and the way they are done. Keep ‘‘em coming. Big thank you

[@CrayogenicDeath]

Top-tier content as always. Favorite channel on KZbin.

[@5777Whatup]

Headed to the intel report!

[@awaik100]

dang dude i always look forward to your videos. your quality is unereal.

[@tomhull4387]

The " i don't have a **** tone" is from the flight leads aircraft. I believe there is historical confusion about who was in what aircraft. Top gun reviewed the engagement and described the flight leads performance as "professionally embarrassing" and fighting the Libyan "was akin to punching kids coming off the short bus". Herman "munster" cook was a junior pilot in the squadron at the time. Performed very well and after the shoot down was awarded Atlantic fleet fighter pilot of the year.

[@okisoba]

Taht's the only thing he got wrong in this video. Cook shot down the first MiG with a Sparrow after Enwright's two Sparrows missed.

[@jsgaminghub9402]

Thanks for the new upload and of course I subscribed to the new channel.

[@optionsss]

it's interesting to listen to this version and compare it to Ward Carroll's detailed review and realize the difference and key missing details.

[@optionsss]

For those who are interested kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKqwl3ZpgpWZkLM&ab_channel=WardCarroll

[@Rex0915]

So stoked for the new channel!

[@looinrims]

“This video is sponsored by my other channel” Ops Room: *awards medal to Ops Room*

[@farginbastage805]

Haha I love how they leave out the f bomb during the pilot interaction lol

[@danieldevadas6481]

The "Good kill! Good kill!" bit after the Fox 2 issues are also the intro of Growling Sidewinder's channel

[@torbennielsen9043]

I am a personal friend of the F14 pilot (Joe Connely) and have heard the story a few times. He is a very nice guy and excellent pilot. Its actually only a few years ago he finally retired as a private contractor to TRADOC..

[@pontiacGXPfan]

was his callsign actually Beads?

[@ctbadger]

Growling Sidewinder has a great video using DCS to simulate the encounter. He said the Floggers didn’t have their radar on and there was a problem with the Tomcat radar that made it appear the bogeys were matching the Tomcats’ turns.

[@HolySoliDeoGloria]

3:22 *radar intercept officer (not "radio"). I love your videos!

[@benredden2524]

My dad was an f-14 pilot on the ship at the time, he said two f-14 pilots names were “Munster” and “Beads”

[@chrissim4386]

The biggest mistake was not picking up the pilots. They were not active shooters, got shot down and were left to drown. The carrier had the capabilites to rescue them, and they knew - or at least could be very sure of the fact that- the Libyans were unable to rescue them.

[@HYDRAdude]

In short, the USN murdered those innocent men.

[@briantrudell8248]

Didn't know that was what happened to the pilots 😕 should have recovered them from the sea, disappointed in them, no body should be left like that

[@adisproject]

In international airspace too. Insane how the US always IS the agressor but act like a victim

[@yzakhd5586]

@@adisproject the agressor ? Did you see the video?

[@angelosorio9386]

@@adisproject First, they have no obligation of rescue them, what Gaddafi do to US pilots if shit down and "rescued" by Lybia? And second "Agressors"? Do you even watch the video?

[@Z_WAAAAAZ]

Two thumbs up. These videos never miss

[@UnmatchedSkills]

in situations like these you're reminded that no amount of training can prepare you for something unexpected in the real thing-- something as simple as forgetting to turn up your cockpit tone. Bet you that it was added to the pilot course after this engagement.

[@korosuke1788]

Yeah. Something unexpected line getting shot down in international airspace with no provocation.

[@Pieguy223]

@@korosuke1788 None of the 14s got shot down though?

[@theochojabroni7136]

Operations Room: "Subscribe to the Intel Report now" Me: Good soldiers follow orders

[@jmanj3917]

2:50 "They counted on America to be passive... They counted wrong." -President Reagan

[@StromBugSlayer]

Yeah, well, it's unclear if the Libyans ever knew the F-14s were there. Need some analysis about why they seemed to change headings to match the F-14s. Reagan was something of a war monger.

[@barryc9115]

Reagan was a war criminal. And our ‘beef’ with Libya was anything but what we were told it was. It’s just one more example of rewritten history to cover up that the United States is anything but what we were told we were/are. Libya wasn’t playing nice with the one world government, and so we ‘the war arm of the one world government’ were sent it to resolve the problem trouble maker.

[@geordiedog1749]

Intel Room sounds fab!!

[@okisoba]

Good video. Everything was spot on according to most written historical accounts of the incident except who shot the third Sparrow. It was LT Cook in 202 that shot down the first MiG-23 with a single Sparrow after Enwright in 207 missed with the first two Sparrows. The second was shot down by CDR Connelly in 207 with an AIM-9. All the frantic sounding comm was from 207. LT Cook recalls the incident in an American Fighter Aces Association panel at The Museum of Flight. The video of it is on youtube.

[@TactileCoder]

Why were they shot down over international waters without any attempts to communicate over guard frequency? Overzealous pilots who got a chance to test out their toy outside of training is more of what this was, and everyone seems to have collectively shrugged and moved on because this was a nation unable to respond to what was clearly an act of war and aggression.

[@sundoga4961]

@@TactileCoder I agree they should have been warned off by the carrier, but if you're in a war craft and repeatedly put yourself on an attack vector towards another war craft, that plane is going to assume hostile intentions.

[@PvtPartzz]

@@sundoga4961 idk if that’s fair to say. Libyan pilots were likely ordered to investigate the radar contact. Doing so requires closing the distance in order to get a visual identification. This would be like a cop in America pulling his gun on and shooting whoever they’ve pulled over after they see them reach for something in the car. They cannot jump to the conclusion that every object someone reaches for is a gun.. even if that person tells the officer that they do have a firearm in the vehicle or on their person.

[@sundoga4961]

@@PvtPartzz Well, I should note that exactly what you describe has happened multiple times. But besides that, soldiers and airmen are not police. They do not have any reason to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you threaten them, or do something they think threatens them, they are going to kill you.

[@khiemta1559]

@@PvtPartzz rules of engagement with a foreign power are different than dealing with civilian population, esp. a known hostile state. i personally have no problem with the engagement, even if the libyans didn't have hostile intent (which i doubt). after everything they'd done, they completely lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to actions with armed parties.

[@leannefresquez3490]

Subbed to new channel

[@elconquistador932]

Variable geometry vs variable geometry. I never really thought about that aspect of this incident.

[@nicholasespinoza9610]

I recommend watching Carol Ward's analysis of this engagement along with the comments. It was the RIO that fired the 2 sparrows back to back and the first one missed because when the 2nd one was fired the first sparrow automatically stops tracking. In addition, the 2nd pilot who didn't get tone was not due to volume but because his weapon selector on his stick was not set to sidewinder. Finally Carol a former RIO implied that the Mig-23's were not flying towards them as later confirmed by the AWACs but because the F-14 radar only updates every 2.4 second in Track While Scan mode it appeared that the Migs were moving with hostile intent. A person in the comments claimed he routinely listened to Libyan communication and the Libyan pilots were simply on a standard mission when they were attacked by the navy jets.

[@bjjace1]

Amazing channel

[@christmas6666]

Babe, wake up. The Operations Room dropped a new video

[@sarcasticguy4311]

I've heard the audio of this and after watching the planes jink around I had a feeling this was the animated version of that audio. The "Oh, Jesus!" was the line that confirmed it. I don't think the wingman thought the bogies were going to cause them to have to use lethal force.

[@Robin-zu4re]

Great reproduction. This is amazing work once again, and the animations keep getting better and better. Just a couple of hiccups though I believe, SMEs feel free to confirm or deny my suppositions. The left bank manoeuvres the F-14 execute at the beginning of the engagement are not meant to manoeuvre behind the Migs, but to reduces closure to give them more time to assess as well as observe if the Migs take an interception course toward the Tomcats. Such course deviations can in certain circumstances qualify as an hostile act, which is why they tried to provoke it and reported it. It would then allow them to defend themselves. This manœuvre is known as a crank, taking it left or right 30-45° to reduce closure while still being able to paint the hostiles contact with the radar, looking front of the airplane. Another little one, the F-14s descending weren’t so much meant to hide them, but rather to make the Migs stand out in the sky on the scope and not be bothered with the ground clutter. As you point out in the video, radars don’t like ground return.

[@TzunSu]

This version of the F-14 uses a pulse-doppler radar, ground clutter isn't going to be much of a factor, especially not since they were at an altitude where it's not a big issue regardless.

[@Robin-zu4re]

@@TzunSu AFAIK, it was. The AWG-9 is indeed a pulse doppler radar, and one of the best performing fighter radar of it's time. However, pulse doppler radars suffer from two flaws, especially on the "early" generations such as the AWG-9. It has two blind spots which are known as the notch filter, and the 0 doppler filter. The Notch Filter is in fact the ground clutter filter. The radar will disregard any returning contact with a closure equal to the plane's relative speed to the ground, as it will believe that it is looking at the ground. The downside is that an enemy contact can hide in this filter by beaming the radar, which is called "notching". The 0 doppler filter is a filter that disregards any contact with a neutral closure rate, as it will believe that it is a false positive. And again, an enemy contact can be hidden in this filter by turning "cold", away from the target. Both filters on the AWG-9 have a +-80 to 100 knots window, give or take, which is flaw exploitable by the enemy, on purpose or not. One tactic to avoid loosing a contact was to dive lower than the enemy so that when they are inside any of those two filters, the RIO can revert to "pulse mode" and get the contacts back on scope using a pulse wave radar mode, which would be hard to use in a top-down view because of ground clutter. This is why I believe they chose to close-in from below the target rather than above. It also gives better geometry at the merge, but that's more of a longshot I'd say.

[@TzunSu]

@@Robin-zu4re Oh, yes, P-D radars aren't foolproof, and they don't always work as intended, but in a closing engagement over water, at a decent altitude, none of those tactics are being applied. I think it's probably a mix of the two, they go down because it makes the relatively shit radar on the MIG-23s have a much lower locking range, whilst they avoid the issues of shooting down, but if they were only intending to get a firing solution going "up" they wouldn't have needed to drop that low.

[@MattH-wg7ou]

Robin is correct in all his assumptions. Even awesome new AESA radars like the APG-82, APG-63v3, APG-79, APG-81, APG-77, etc can struggle with look-down into a notch situations.

[@justsmy5677]

The primary purpose of the F-14s initially executing a 360 turn before committing toward the MiGs was to allow the MiGs to fly further feet wet and get outside of Libya's 12 mile coastal waters. The Navy wanted the fight to happen in International waters, outside the internationally recognized 12 mile buffer area, but inside Libya's recently claimed larger buffer zone that was not internationally recognized (this was the whole point of the Navy letting Libia know that we did not honor their new/larger buffer zone). Approaching the merge from below the MiGs served two purposes, but the same concept. Both the Tomcats and the Floggers prefer to "look up" at bandits against a clear sky. Both jets try to avoid looking down into ground/water clutter.

[@cubsfan1622000]

Outstanding job as usual.

[@SG-gf1uv]

Love your great content, already subscribed!

[@deadend5479]

As always as soon as i see a video from you guys i click

[@alexanderleach3365]

Nice video. God I miss the F-14s.

[@OrbvsTomarvm]

so did da migs . . ,! ,

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

Don't,they were too expensive.The only thing that could justify such high operating costs is an "i win button",like stealth.

[@Panzermeister36]

The maintenance crews don't miss them 😛

[@rustyshaklford9557]

Iran is still keeping them flying.

[@robbabcock_]

Great video!

[@Outerwebs]

This portrayal of the incident is _very_ charitable to the Tomcats... The MiGs in all likelihood didn't even know they were there, and their 'turning into the Tomcats five times' was just the Tomcat's radar intermittently updating every 4 seconds or so showing a _relative_ change in direction. The lead RIO should have realised this but was hell bent on getting a MiG kill and ignored the Admiral's radio call telling them they weren't cleared to fire. And by every other account I've heard, the wingman's initial lack of tone was because he simply hadn't selected sidewinders.

[@Nyx_2142]

Dude plays DCS or War Thunder one time and thinks he knows more about the F-14 and the situation than the crew who were there. Lol. Clown.

[@shagrat47]

Any actual facts to back these bold "statements"? ...I mean you make it sound like you were there, reading the minds of the guys. 🤔

[@Outerwebs]

@@shagrat47 The onsite AWACS reported, and the Chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee later confirmed, that the MiGs were not making any hostile maneuvers towards the F-14s. Whether the Libyans knew the F-14s were there until they were fired about, and whether the F-14s actually turned away or immediately began positioning themselves for an intercept has been debated since immediately after the shootdown. Go listen to the audio of the action with a critical ear and watch Ward Carroll's video on the incident to get an account of how the actions of the pilots involved are/were not viewed with glowing admiration within the Tomcat community, and above all - look into it yourself rather than just take whatever a video or some random in the youtube peanut gallery like me says at face value...

[@tommym321]

@@Nyx_2142actually, YOURE the clown. OPs comment happens to be factually correct, you boot licking imbecile.

[@bzipoli]

were you the radio operator on the deck?

[@Ryak84]

The AIM-7 was always a disguting joke... what a terrible handicap for such a magnificent airframe like the F14.

[@jaroftar]

After both sparrows miss I picture both pilots looking at each other nervously before breaking

[@johnparsons1573]

Fabulous video

[@waverlh]

Awesome, as always.

[@tymartin1508]

Love this channel

[@TheMadmanAndre]

"I don't got tone!" *realizes the tone is muted* "Oh wait NVM" *shoots missile*

[@BadAssEngineering]

Growling Sidewinder's intro audio is from this mission LOL

[@OhManTFE]

There was no glory in this battle

[@lupita3689]

Sad that the Libyan pilots weren’t picked up and died a cold and slow death floating in the sea.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video. It would be great to hear about other air wars. Like the ones in both World Wars and Korea n Vietnam. Oh yes. Those would make nice video's on this channel.

[@22vx]

Nice work👌 thanx for sharing👍

[@richardg7485]

Your videos are amazing! Please do a video covering Operation Entebbe/Thunderbolt!

[@edwardmelvin9184]

My father was a Radioman on one of the ships of the US fleet. He heard the entire incident over the com channel.

[@MAX_V96]

I love this Chanel keep up the good and great work!

[@steliosalexandrakis3941]

Growling sidewinder's intro makes sense now

[@briansonnenfelt7125]

I thought the same thing

[@oof6205]

Yeah I didn't realize where he got that audio clip, didn't realize it was this event either.

[@JaimeBarr-w9m]

Top-tier content as always. Favorite channel on KZbin.. Awesome video, easy to follow, and really cool animation ideas. 10/10.

[@ericfleming5522]

This is probably inaccurate--it reflects the aircrews' radio calls pretty well, but doesn't account for the possibility that the aircrew were mistaken. Ward Carol, a former F-14 RIO, has a video up about both Gulf of Sidra incidents and explains that the aircrews made a handful of mistakes, chiefly failing to remember that the way the AWG-9 extrapolated data while in TWS mode would make it momentarily look like the target changed heading if F-14 suddenly changed direction. So it looked like the MiG 23s were repeatedly and rapidly turning to intercept from the F-14s' cockpits, but the E-2C crews later reported they weren't seeing the same thing. I suspect the crews would have been grounded or potentially courtmartialed had CNN not gotten a hold of the audio recording of the dogfight that never was, which made it impossible to sweep the incident under the rug.

[@GabrielMatusSF]

Here's the video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKqwl3ZpgpWZkLM

[@madladon]

For non-link clickers, it's called "Tomcats 4, Libya 0 - The Real Story of the Gulf of Sidra Incidents" by Ward Carroll, it's the second story in the video (just under ~11 minutes in)

[@abricio]

Great video

[@walli6388]

Ngl, but all those air engagement before Lybia just sound like the US is really really aggressive. Being mostly the first ones to shoot. Not to forget that the lybians only started 2 planes which seems kinda weird if you want to attack an aircraft carrier. Anyone has some information on the lybian rules of engagement/lybians airing some planes because some foreign war planes are just close to their air control zone?

[@bigred5287]

"I can't I don't got [f**king] tone" Nice of you to keep this video family friendly hehe

[@sih1095]

Excellent as ever.

[@13thravenpurple94]

Great work thank yoU

[@therealuncleowen2588]

I was feeling all patriotic until the end when the Libyan pilots were left by both sides to die in the water. The Americans could have easily rescued them. I realize that wasn't our responsibility, but that would have been the humane thing to do.

[@mostpalone2959]

I LOVE your videos, will you Please do one about the Khe San, & the battle of Hue during Tet!!!

[@yah5o]

Love your videos. But I think that I've found a small error. The Libyan Migs were single seaters, but there were two parachutes in the video each time one was shot down...

[@TheOperationsRoom]

These were two seat variants

[@TzunSu]

@@TheOperationsRoom Then the error is in you saying "The pilot" a few times, and not the editor :P

[@TheOperationsRoom]

@@TzunSu huh? There is only one pilot

[@ColeHajek]

@@TheOperationsRoom it just wasn’t clarified in the video (unless I missed it) that they were two seaters and “the pilot” implied 1 person. It’s not a big deal

[@literalantifaterrorist4673]

@@ColeHajek well, there only is one pilot. One flies, one operates the weapon systems.

[@madladon]

My understanding of the tone is that 207 couldn't get tone because he hadn't selected fox 2, which is why his rio repeated tells him to select fox 2. In the audio recording, you can hear the rio start to say "select f-" again before the tone comes on.

[@jasonwhite7905]

After the 1st Sparrow misses; Goose: Maverick!? Maverick: ok, so the button works.

[@Emrald7]

8:00 Wait… they never picked up the Tomcats on Radar? How where they vectored in to the flight then? Or is he referring to the Migs radars?

[@brandonl8039]

Yea the migs never picked up the F-14s the migs never even turned into the F14s this is sadly a bad shoot down caused by a trigger happy RIO.

[@HealthySkepticism1775]

@@brandonl8039 Yup

[@mdb831]

It was a bad shoot. Leo the RIO was wrong in flipping 2 sparrows at a guy who had no chance and no clue.

[@BullGator-kd6ge]

@@mdb831 But how were they supposed to know the Migs couldn’t see them?

[@QemeH]

@@BullGator-kd6ge The point is: They were given the green light to shoot down bogies *that didn't back down* - the Mig's never knew the F14's were out there until they had two sidewinders pass them at Code Brown distance, so it's unfair (and potentially illegal) to call their movements "not backing down". The proper procedure would've been to complete the intercept and paint them with your targetting radar - and only if they either open fire first or don't turn away after the intercept were the F14's allowed to use their weapons. Trigger-happy RIO here send the missile while still on the way to the intercept.

[@CastilloinaSpeedo]

I've never subbed to something quicker!!

[@slobodanmitic1354]

Forgots to volume up his cockpit tone? Is this even the option?

[@petrolekh]

Damn, those pilots were never recovered.

[@MikeBabsBC]

And thus, Growling Sidewinder is born.

[@wvawater]

You should do a video on the battle of the HMAS Sydney and the SMS Cormoran, very interesting battle.