8. Operation Opera
Operation Opera was the code name of 7th June 1981 Israeli airstrike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor. The operation followed the 1980 Iran-Iraq war where a pair of Iranian Phantom jets, part of a group of aircraft that were attacking a nearby conventional power plant, bombed the Iraqi reactor but only caused minor damages which were later repaired by French technicians.
The story began when Israeli intelligence confirmed the purchase of a nuclear reactor from the French by the Iraq government. Both the countries claimed that the reactor was purely for research purposes but soon after Israel confirmed Iraqis intention of developing a nuclear weapon, they were aware of the threat the Iraqi posed to them. Quickly, the Israel tried to seek a diplomatic solution that would halt the French from financing and supporting the Iraqi project, but it failed. At this point, Israel had not much time as Iraq was within a year of obtaining nuclear weapons.
Israel planned their attack and on June 7, 1981, their forces took off. The operation which was conducted carefully involved fourteen F-15 and F-16 fighters who flew off the runway of Etzion Air Force base in the Negev, and proceeded to pass over Jordanian, Saudi, and Iraqi airspace, to attack the French-built Iraqi nuclear reactor. The flight to Iraq was done low level so as to minimize the possibility of being spotted by aircraft radar in any of the Arab nations the planes flew over.