Gulf of Sidra incident 1981

E783516

The Gulf of Sidra incident 1981 was a Cold War-era aerial confrontation in which U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan fighter jets over disputed waters off Libya.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Cold War incident
aerial incident
military engagement
airspaceStatus over international waters according to U.S.
alsoKnownAs 1981 Gulf of Sidra shoot-down NERFINISHED
belligerent Libyan Arab Jamahiriya NERFINISHED
United States Navy NERFINISHED
casualtiesLibya 2 aircraft shot down
casualtiesUS 0 killed
category 1981 in military history
Air battles involving Libya
Air battles involving the United States
commandStructure U.S. Sixth Fleet NERFINISHED
conflictType air-to-air combat
countryInvolved Libya NERFINISHED
United States of America
surface form: United States
date 1981-08-19
disputedArea Line of Death in Gulf of Sidra NERFINISHED
engagementType beyond-visual-range and within-visual-range combat
era late Cold War NERFINISHED
historicalSignificance symbol of U.S. challenge to Libyan maritime claims
involvedWeaponSystem AN/AWG-9 radar NERFINISHED
legalStatusOfWaters disputed territorial claim by Libya
LibyanAircraftLost 2
LibyanAircraftType Sukhoi Su-22 NERFINISHED
LibyanClaim airspace over Libyan territorial waters extended to Gulf of Sidra
LibyanLeaderAtTime Muammar Gaddafi NERFINISHED
location Gulf of Sidra NERFINISHED
Mediterranean Sea NERFINISHED
off the coast of Libya
notableFeature first air-to-air kills by U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats
partOf Cold War
Gulf of Sidra conflicts NERFINISHED
politicalContext tensions between United States and Muammar Gaddafi regime
relatedEvent Gulf of Sidra incident 1989 NERFINISHED
result U.S. victory
trigger Libyan attempt to enforce territorial claim over Gulf of Sidra
USAircraftLost 0
USAircraftType Grumman F-14 Tomcat NERFINISHED
USCarrierInvolved USS Nimitz NERFINISHED
USDoctrine freedom of navigation operations against excessive maritime claims
USOperation freedom of navigation exercise
USPositionOnWaters international waters
USSquadronInvolved VF-41 Black Aces NERFINISHED
VF-84 Jolly Rogers NERFINISHED
weaponsUsed AIM-7 Sparrow missile NERFINISHED
AIM-9 Sidewinder missile NERFINISHED
year 1981

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gulf of Sidra wasSiteOf Gulf of Sidra incident 1981