"Israel relied on France as its principal supplier of arms for more than a decade, but by the mid-1960s its desire to purchase more advanced and capable US weapons saw it buy the combat-proven Douglas A-4 Skyhawk to perform light strike missions. Some 48 A-4Hs were initially ordered in 1966, and these soon formed the backbone of the Israeli Air Force's attack arm. Entering service two years later, the Skyhawk (dubbed the Ahit, or Eagle, in Israel) flew thousands of sorties during the 1967-70 War of Attrition with Egypt. Hostilities along the Lebanese and Syrian borders also triggered Ahit operations. Israel had introduced additional A-4 aircraft of several sub-types by 1973, and in October of that year, five Skyhawk squadrons saw combat during the Yom Kippur War. More than 50 Skyhawks were lost during the 19-day conflict due to the high-risk multi-role missions flown by the attack squadrons. Although supplanted and progressively replaced by the Kfir and then the F-16, small numbers of A-4s saw further action in the 1982 Lebanon War, and again over Lebanon in 2006." --Back cover.