33 years have passed since the end of Operation Eagle Claw, but, alas, much is still unclear in this tangled one.
The drama in Tehran began on November 4, 1979. A crowd of 400 people, claiming to be members of the Organization of Muslim Students following the course of Imam Khomeini, attacked the US diplomatic mission. The embassy staff turned to the Iranian police for help, who, by the way, did not post their usual guard squad at the embassy that day. However, these requests remained unanswered. A couple of hours later, the attackers managed to crush 13 American Marines, who were throwing grenades into the crowd with tear gas. The embassy was seized, and the organizers of the attack publicly stated that the action was undertaken to protest the United States' asylum for the former Shah of Iran and to thwart plots by American imperialism and international Zionism against the "Islamic revolution" in Iran. The students demanded that the Shah be extradited to stand trial before a revolutionary court.
Until late at night, numerous rallies and demonstrations took place in the area of the American Embassy, at which the national flags of the United States and Israel were burned.
Iranian television and radio broadcast the storming of the embassy and the rallies that followed throughout the day. Statements from various religious, political and public organizations of Iran were broadcast in support of the action taken, as well as an endless stream of telegrams and messages from various groups of the population and individual citizens.
For propaganda purposes, the invaders freed 14 people: non-US citizens, blacks and women. There were 52 students left in captivity.
From the very beginning, it was clear to everyone that this was a well-thought-out multi-step action by the radical Iranian clergy.
In the mid-1950s, the Iranian government and secret Service SAVAK came completely under American control.
At the end of the 1970s, a paradoxical situation arose in Iran - there was rapid economic growth, the country's army and navy occupied first place in the Middle East, SAVAK provided the appearance of stability and national love to the Shah, and, nevertheless, the regime was heading towards destruction.
It is noteworthy that the fight against the Shah was led by the Shiite clergy. In October - November 1978, the strike movement covered both state and private enterprises. The strikes were well organized: they began simultaneously in all or almost all enterprises of one industry or industrial group. Thus, workers of the Behshahr Industrial Group (forty production facilities) began to strike simultaneously. The strike of oil workers in Khuzestan province was supported by workers of all oil and gas enterprises in the country. And since Iran’s economy and finances by this time were based mainly on the “oil pipeline,” the strike led the country to chaos.
On January 16, 1979, Shah Mohammed Reze Pahlavi and Shah Ferah went to Tehran Mehrabad Airport. “I’m going on vacation,” the Shah said to those seeing him off, “because I feel very tired.”
Just two weeks later, on February 1, 80 thousand residents of the country came to an unprecedented mass service. The believers were waiting for the messenger of Allah.
And the Air France Boeing 747 airliner was already in the air, flying from Paris to Tehran. On board was the Grand Ayatollah with his retinue of 50 aides and associates, accompanied by 150 journalists.
At the Mehrabad airport, the Ayatollah was greeted by a sea of people chanting “Allah is great! The Shah has left, the Imam has come!” From that moment on, Khomeini became the main political figure of the country.
On February 5, 1979, Khomeini declared the illegality of Sh. Bakhtiar's government and appointed Mehdi Bazargan as head of the provisional revolutionary government. This was a tactically correct move by the Ayatollah. 73-year-old Mehdi Bazargan received his engineering education in Paris. At one time he was an associate of Mossadegh and one of the prominent figures of the National Front. The Shah's secret police threw him into prison four times. Bazargan enjoyed the support of both liberals and leftists.
At the same time, supporters of Khomeini and activists of left radicals - “people's mujahideen” and fedayeen - began to create armed units.
Needless to say, Khomeini considered Barghazan’s government to be transitional on the path to the transfer of power to the radical clergy.
One of important points The disagreement between the government under the Revolutionary Council was the issue of relations with the United States. President Carter and the US State Department were extremely dissatisfied with the fall of the Shah's regime, but at first they acted extremely cautiously. Thus, they managed to agree with the new Iranian authorities on the evacuation of the 7 thousand US citizens remaining in Iran, and most importantly, the unimpeded removal of American electronic intelligence equipment installed under the Shah’s regime along the Soviet border.
However, the Americans refused to supply the new batches of weapons requested by the Iranian government, including destroyers (and in fact, missile-carrying cruisers) ordered under the Shah, without inviting military advisers and experts from the United States.
On October 21, the US administration notified the Iranian government that the Shah was being granted a temporary visa for hospitalization in the United States, and the next day the Rockefeller concern arranged for the Shah to fly to New York, where he was admitted to a clinic. This gave Khomeini's supporters a reason for decisive action. They decided to kill two birds with one stone - to put pressure on the United States and remove the Bazargan government.
After the seizure of the embassy, the US State Department expressed “concerns,” to which the Bazargan government responded that it would “make every effort to resolve the problem satisfactorily” and release the embassy staff.
However, Bazargan and his government were powerless to do anything to free the hostages, and on November 6, Tehran radio broadcast the prime minister's resignation letter to Khomeini. The Ayatollah immediately granted Bazargan’s request, and Khomeini’s decree was broadcast on the radio accepting his resignation and transferring all state affairs to the Islamic Revolutionary Council, which was entrusted with preparing a referendum on the “Islamic constitution”, elections of the president and the Majlis, as well as carrying out a “revolutionary, decisive cleansing” in the state apparatus. . The implementation of these measures constituted the main content of the “second revolution,” the victory of which, according to Khomeini, was supposed to benefit “the inhabitants of huts, not palaces.”
Thus, having organized the seizure of the embassy, Khomeini’s supporters, using the anti-American sentiments of the entire Iranian population, created new government structures.
In December 1979, a national referendum was held that approved the “Islamic constitution.” Presidential elections were held in January 1980, and parliament was elected in March - May of the same year. In August - September a new, permanent government was created.
In response to the seizure of the embassy, President Carter froze Iranian accounts in American banks, announced an embargo on Iranian oil (despite the energy crisis), announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran, and the introduction of a complete economic embargo against Iran. All Iranian diplomats were ordered to leave the United States within 24 hours.
Since both sides clearly did not intend to make concessions, Carter tried to resolve political crisis by other means. An American reconnaissance aircraft was sent to Iran, which entered Iranian airspace undetected and even flew over Tehran.
As a result, US President Jimmy Carter agreed to carry out a military operation to free the hostages in Tehran. According to media reports, the operation was initially called “Pot of Rice”, and later called “Eagle Claw”.
According to the plan, the capture group was supposed to secretly enter Iranian territory on April 24 on six C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. Three of them were supposed to carry Delta fighters on board, and the other three - rubber containers with aviation kerosene for refueling helicopters at a refueling point code-named Desert-1, which was located approximately 200 miles (370 km) southeast Tehran. That same night, eight RH-53 D Sea Stallion helicopters were supposed to take off from the aircraft carrier Nimitz and, flying in a parallel course in four pairs, land at the Desert 1 point half an hour after the planes.
After landing the Delta fighters and refueling the helicopters, the Hercules were to return to the departure airfield on Masirah Island off the coast of Oman, and the helicopters were to deliver the Delta fighters to a pre-designated shelter in a holding area near Tehran, which was two hours away by flight. and then fly to another point, 90 km from the shelter of the Delta fighters, and remain there under camouflage nets for the entire next day.
On the evening of April 25, US CIA agents dispatched to Iran in advance had to transport 118 Delta fighters, accompanied by two former Iranian generals, through the streets of Tehran in six Mercedes trucks and deliver them to the US Embassy. Closer to midnight, the group was supposed to begin storming the embassy building: using the outer walls to get to the windows, get inside, “neutralize” the guards and free the hostages. Then it was planned to call helicopters by radio to evacuate the participants in the operation and former hostages either directly from the embassy territory or from the nearby football field. Two AS-1 ZON fire support aircraft, patrolling over the embassy, would support them with fire if the Iranians tried to prevent the helicopters from taking off.
In the pre-dawn darkness of the early morning of April 26, helicopters carrying rescuers and survivors would fly 65 km south and land at Manzariyeh Airfield, which by then would be in the hands of a company of US Army Rangers. From there, the hostages were supposed to be flown home on two C-141 jet transport aircraft, and the Rangers were supposed to return on C-130 aircraft.
Before proceeding to the course of the operation, I would like to dwell on three of its details. Well, first of all, what determined the choice of the Desert-1 landing site? The fact is that in 1941–1945. there was a British military airfield there, later abandoned. The Yankees chose this place carefully, and the later arguments of their military that they did not know that there was a highway nearby are, to put it mildly, frivolous.
A few days before the start of the operation, a Twin Otter twin-engine turboprop passenger plane landed at the Desert-1 airfield. Its flight range was 1,705 km, with a capacity of 19–20 passengers. CIA agents led by Major John Cartney examined the airfield for the possibility of landing C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, and also installed light beacons. The beacons were to be activated by radio signals from approaching American aircraft. Let me note that the details of the Twin Otter flight are still kept secret.
The decision to use sea helicopters as “rescue helicopters” was not the most successful. The command of the temporary combined arms tactical group chose the RH-53 D Sea Stallion helicopters because of their large payload capacity - 2700 kg more than that of the Air Force HH-53 helicopter. It was also taken into account that the release of minesweeper helicopters from an aircraft carrier on the high seas would not attract attention to the special operation being prepared.
However, the crews of the RH-53 D naval helicopters were trained to perform one combat mission: search and trawling sea mines only in the daytime using a large trawl lowered on a tow rope.
The most interesting point is the fire support of the landing force. AS-130 N (Ganship) had relatively large firepower: one 105-mm M102 howitzer, one 40-mm Bofors automatic cannon and two 20-mm six-barreled M61 Vulcan cannons. I note that the latter fired about 5 thousand (!) rounds per minute.
The crew of "Ganship" ("Gunboat") is 13 people. All guns fired on one side. As you can see, two AC-130 N could fire effectively at a crowd of Iranians, but the slow-moving Gunship is easy prey for the oldest fighter.
As already mentioned, judging by some of the details leaked to the media, Eagle Claw should be part of a much larger operation involving the US Air Force and Navy. Photos of the Corsair-2 deck attack aircraft of the Nimitz aircraft carrier with characteristic “quick identification” stripes, which were applied immediately before the start of Operation Eagle Claw, appeared in the media. It is not difficult to guess that the Corsairs were supposed to cover the landing from the air. It goes without saying that the carrier-based fighters also had to cover the helicopters and Hercules. Let's not forget that most of Iranian Air Force personnel supported the Islamists back in February 1979.
During Operation Eagle Claw, the attack aircraft carrier Coral Sea was located next to the Nimitz aircraft carrier at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Apparently, a joint strike by attack aircraft from both aircraft carriers against Tehran or Iranian Air Force bases was planned.
Before the start of Operation Eagle Claw, a C-130 squadron was deployed to Egypt under the pretext of participating in joint exercises. Next they flew to Masirah Island (Oman). After refueling, the Hercules squadron crossed the Gulf of Oman in the dark.
The first landing site was poorly chosen. After the lead C-130 landed, a bus passed along the sandy road. Its driver and about 40 passengers were detained until the Americans took off. Following the bus, a tanker truck loaded with fuel arrived, which American special forces destroyed with grenade launchers. A pillar of flame shot up, visible from afar. In addition, two helicopters had already been lost, and one returned to the aircraft carrier. The commander of the operation, Colonel Beckwith, decided to stop the operation.
And then a disaster happened. One of the helicopters, after refueling, miscalculated the maneuver and crashed into a Hercules tanker. rang out powerful explosion, and both cars turned into torches. All the fuel for the operation was burning. Ammunition exploded. The panic began. A group of commandos stationed nearby thought it was an Iranian attack. They opened fire indiscriminately. The helicopter pilots, violating the regulations, abandoned their cars and ran to a safe place. Secret cards, codes, tables remained in the cabins, the latest equipment, thousands of dollars and reals. Colonels Beckwith and Kyle could do nothing. There was only one thing left to do - get out of here quickly. This order followed. Colonel Beckwith ordered to drop everything, load onto the Hercules and retreat. The bosses also violated the regulations by not eliminating the remaining helicopters. These Sea Stallions later served in the Iranian army for several years.
When the Yankees took off, five RH-53 D helicopters remained on the ground. Operation Eagle Claw cost $150 million and eight pilots died.
Later, when the invasion of Iranian territory became public, the Sultan of Oman protested and terminated the agreement with the United States, which allowed its air force and navy to use Masiru for their needs.
In my opinion, Operation Eagle Claw was doomed to failure under the best circumstances. Even if Delta Force had managed to break through to the embassy, the heavily armed students and nearby army units would have put up fierce resistance.
As the American journalist Michael Haas wrote: “Overwhelmed by religious zeal, an Iranian, normally a polite person, turns into a crazed fanatic with virtually no fear of death. How else can we explain the readiness of Iranian teenagers, driven into a frenzy by the mullahs, to act in the Iran-Iraq war as living mine detectors, feeling for mines with their bare feet? To a person Western culture it seems alien, but is nevertheless one of the main components of Iranian culture.”
The bombing of Tehran by American carrier aircraft would inevitably lead to large casualties among the civilian population. Nevertheless, neither the paratroopers nor the hostages would have been able to escape, but Tehran would have had to agree to an alliance with Moscow.
After the failure of Operation Eagle Claw, US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned. The Carter administration immediately began preparing a new military operation to free the hostages, called “Badger.”
By August 1980, the Badger group was ready to perform immediately upon receipt from the CIA complete information about the whereabouts of the hostages. However, neither the command of the operation nor The White house were not satisfied with the incoming information due to its incompleteness, and the consequences of the release of only part of the Americans were too obvious to everyone. Not wanting any ambiguity, the head of the operation, Major General Secord, explained in no uncertain terms to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Badger was a hammer, not a needle; casualties among the Iranian population will be enormous.
Operation Badger involved nothing less than the capture of Tehran International Airport by at least two Ranger battalions, the rescue of hostages by Delta Force from suspected holding sites in Tehran, and the evacuation of the troops and hostages involved by transport aircraft under the cover of carrier-based attack aircraft, which from the beginning and until the end of the operation they had to circle over the city. Even higher above them, carrier-based F-14 fighters were supposed to be on duty to intercept any Iranian aircraft.
As the historian Philip wrote?D. Chinnery in his book Anytime, Anywhere, a hammer blow to the heart of one of largest cities More than a hundred aircraft and 4,000 troops were to strike peace. By comparison, Operation Eagle Claw involved a total of 54 aircraft and helicopters, a Delta Force force of 118, and a company of Rangers stationed at an evacuation airfield.
There were no further attempts to rescue the hostages.
The State Department had to switch from carrots to sticks - negotiations began with the Iranian authorities. By the end of January 1981, an Iranian delegation led by Bahzad Nabavi in Algeria reached an agreement with the United States regarding the release of 52 American hostages. Washington has unfrozen Iranian assets worth $12 billion. A huge part of this money ($4 billion) went to pay claims from 330 American companies and individuals. Iran agreed to return its debts to various foreign banks ($3.7 billion). So the Iranian government received “clean” only 2.3 billion dollars. 52 American hostages, having survived 444 days of captivity, were released on January 20, 1981 and flew from Mehabad to the American military base in Wiesbaden on a Boeing 727.
The resolution of the American hostage crisis once again proves to us that the political rhetoric of the Iranian and US governments and their practical actions often lie in opposing areas. From the beginning of the “Islamic revolution” in Iran to this day, all political and clergy have been cursing Israel with great zeal and even calling for its destruction from the face of the earth. And amid much fanfare in the early 1980s, Israel and “revolutionary” Iran entered into an agreement to supply spare parts for American weapons and new military equipment in exchange for providing exit visas to Iranian Jews traveling to Israel.
Further more. In 1985–1986 The United States enters into a secret agreement with the “nest of terrorism” Iran on the sale of large quantities of ultra-modern weapons - the latest options anti-aircraft missiles“Hawk”, TOU anti-tank missiles, etc. The Americans used the funds received from these transactions to provide military assistance to the “contras” who fought in Nicaragua against the legally elected Sandinista government. The most curious thing is that the transshipment base for planes transporting to Iran was... Israel. It is clear that Israeli diplomats and intelligence officers played the most active role in the Iran-Contra scam.
American officials and military personnel did not like to remember Operation Eagle Claw. But in 2012, the Americans managed to take revenge. The operation, shamefully lost by the Air Force, Navy and Delta Group, was brilliantly won by... Hollywood in the film “Operation Argo”. The fact is that on the day of the storming of the American embassy by Iranian students, six American diplomats took refuge in the Canadian embassy. To help them leave Iran, a CIA agent arrives in the country. Under the guise of a film crew science fiction film"Argo" fugitives successfully bypass the security checkpoints at Tehran airport and leave the country.
Iran has decided to sue Hollywood over the film Argo after cultural officials and film critics watched the film at a private screening in Tehran. They concluded that the film was a "CIA product" and contained anti-Iranian propaganda and distorted historical facts. Masoumeh Ebtekar, a member of the Tehran city council and participant in the 1979 American embassy siege, argues that the film's director, Ben Affleck, showed Iranian rage and bloodlust and ignored the fact that most of the participants in the siege were peaceful students.
And so, at the beginning of 2013, Tehran decided to strike back and began filming feature film called “General Staff” with its version of the events of 1979–1980.
In conclusion, I would like to note that in none of the dozens of foreign and domestic materials relating to this operation, I did not find a single trace of the “hand of Moscow.” Nevertheless, our sailors were well informed about almost all movements American ships and especially aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean. We were a great power then. From 1971 to 1992 there was the 8th operational squadron, the operational zone of which was Indian Ocean and especially the Persian Gulf.
In 1979–1980, our nuclear missile submarines of Project 675 with P-6 missiles and Projects 670 and 671 with Amethyst missiles were constantly in the Indian Ocean. They tried to continuously keep American attack aircraft carriers in the missile range.
Our Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft and guidance aircraft conducted reconnaissance from airfields in Aden and Ethiopia cruise missiles Tu-95 RC. Let me note that in 1980, Il-38 alone carried out an average of about 20 sorties over the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf per month. By the way, after the overthrow of the Shah, the Iranian authorities allowed our Il-38 and Tu-95 RCs to fly from Central Asian airfields to the Indian Ocean.
Finally, we must not forget about our reconnaissance satellites and spacecraft US-A and US-P for maritime reconnaissance and cruise missile guidance. Our sailors and pilots monitored each attack aircraft carriers' trip to the borders of Russia within the range of carrier-based aircraft. Well, of course, they were aware of all the American undertakings.
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On April 25, 1980, in Tehran, a raging crowd of religious fanatics threw eight corpses of American military personnel into the square in front of the US Embassy under the guns of journalists' television cameras: sing Air Force pilots and three aviation pilots Marine Corps USA. Later, all TV channels around the world showed the wreckage of an airplane and a helicopter, as well as three entire helicoptersRH-53D "Sea Stellion", which remained forever in the Iranian desert. Thus ended the attempt of the anti-terrorist group Delta to free 54 hostages taken on November 4, 1979 at the American embassy by Iranian Revolutionary Guards with the decisive blessing of Ayatollah Khomeini.
BACKGROUND: DELTA FORCE
The story begins in the 60s, when the command of the American Green Berets entered into an agreement with the English SAS (three individual shelf the SAS Special Air Service formed the backbone of the UK's special operations forces) about the mutual exchange of people. The first American to go to England was the commander of the 7th Green Beret group, Colonel Edwards, and the next year Captain Charles Beckwith went there. In July 1962, he arrived at the 22nd SAS Regiment, where he experienced first-hand complex system selection and training of personnel, developed by the British 21 years ago and subsequently improved.
The first discovery that Beckwith made was this: the right to wear a beret with the SAS emblem must be earned through a lot of sweat and blood. Suffice it to say that only the verification tests in the SAS regiment are divided into five stages and take six months.
Returning from England in 1963, Beckwith began to convince his leadership of the need to create a special unit similar to the SAS. The command responded to Beckwith's proposal. A small detachment was created, codenamed "Blue Light". The “ideological organizer and inspirer” himself ended up in Vietnam, where he was allowed to form a detachment modeled on the SAS. The Beckwith group of the body is called “D”. She successfully participated in many operations against the Viet Cong. In Vietnam, Beckwith was wounded in the stomach and fell three times in downed helicopters, but survived. On November 21, 1970, Beckwith participated in an operation to free American prisoners from the San Pai camp near Hanoi. The operation was played out like clockwork, but there were no prisoners in the camp.
Vietnam ended and the era of international terrorism began. All this time, Beckwith was haunted by the idea of creating an American analogue of SAS. Beckwith’s idea received a new impetus after the successful operation carried out by the German GHA-9 group to free the Lufthansa plane in Mogadishu. Not wanting to lag behind Germany, the White House gave the green light to the anti-terrorist fight. Beckwith began to create a special forces unit, which, in memory of his unit from the time vietnam war, called "Delta".
It took two years to form and prepare Delta. It turned out to be a copy of the English SAS, adjusted for the United States. The Americans were mainly trained by SAS experts, imparting experience in the fight against terrorism. And just when Delta was on its feet, news came: the US Embassy in Iran had been captured, and fifty-four US State Department employees were taken hostage.
"POT OF RICE"
From that moment on, preparations began for the operation to free the hostages. By order of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David Jones, a temporary combined arms tactical group was created from representatives of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The planning and preparation stage of the hostage rescue operation was given the code name “Pot of Rice”, and the operation itself on Iranian territory was called “Eagle Claw”. Major General James Voth was appointed commander of the group, and Air Force Major General Philip Gast was his deputy for aviation affairs. Colonel Beckwith and Air Force Colonel Kyle were directly involved in the development of the operation. Both of them had extensive experience in planning special operations, but due to the prevailing circumstances they could not resist the instructions of Generals Voth and Gast, who often expressed the wrong judgment or agreed with dubious recommendations.
OPERATION PLAN "EAGLE CLAW"
The plan for the release of the hostages was as follows: two Delta squadrons and a company of Rangers on three C-130 Hercules aircraft with attached refueling aircraft were to land at the Desert-1 point, which was located approximately 370 km southeast of Tehran . Eight RH-53D Sea Stellion helicopters, which were based on the Nimitz aircraft carrier located in the Persian Gulf, were also supposed to fly there. The difference between airplane and helicopter landings was supposed to be 30 minutes. After landing the Delta and refueling the helicopters, the Hercules planes were supposed to return to the departure airfield, and the helicopters were to deliver the Delta fighters to a pre-planned shelter near Tehran, which was two hours away by flight, and then fly to another point, 90 km from the Delta shelter, and remain there under camouflage nets throughout the next day.
On the evening of April 25, CIA operatives, who had been dispatched to Iran in advance, had to deliver the Delta to the US Embassy in six trucks. Closer to midnight, the group was supposed to storm the embassy building: get to the windows along the outer walls, get inside, eliminate the guards and free the hostages. Then it was planned to call helicopters and evacuate either from the embassy territory or from the nearby football field. The evacuation was to be supported from the air by two AC-130H fire support aircraft.
In the early morning of April 26, the helicopters, flying 65 km south, would land at the Manzariye airfield, which by that time was controlled by a company of Rangers. From there, the hostages were supposed to be flown to the United States on two C-141 jets, and the Rangers were supposed to return on C-130 planes.
All operational support for the operation was entrusted to the Central Intelligence Agency. The selection of landing sites, provision of transport, routes around the city - all these issues were worked out by CIA officers and brought to the attention of the participants in the operation.
ONE OF THE ELEMENTS
A full-scale mock-up of the Tehran embassy complex was built in Florida, and Delta began training. It was then that it was discovered that much was not taken into account in the proposed plan. For example, one of the important elements tactical troupe - helicopter pilot. The fact is that the Navy command insisted that Navy pilots participate in the operation (motivation - army helicopters that do not have folding blades will not be able to fit on an aircraft carrier), and allocated crews of helicopters - sea minesweepers - for the operation. During the training, it turned out that the flight crews did not want to learn night and “blind” flights and were not eager to participate in the rescue of hostages). With great difficulty, Bzkvit managed to replace the Navy pilots with US Marine pilots. Things have moved forward. In total, Delta conducted 79 night training to free hostages; Beckwith was more or less calm, but did not fully trust the helicopter crews, believing that they could let them down.
"MURPHY'S LAW"
And after numerous approvals and modifications, the tactical group was ready to begin rescuing the hostages. On April 20, Delta and Rangers in Hercules moved to Wadi Qena, a remote airfield in Egypt. The helicopters were relocated to the Nimitz, and on April 24 the group concentrated in the area of Masirah Island. Three hours after arriving at Masiru, the final command "Forward" was received. And then “Murphy’s law”, or, in Russian, “the law of the sandwich,” came into force. Helicopters taking off from Nimitz encountered a weather phenomenon known in Iran as "habub" - small particles of dust rising into the air. Visibility decreased to zero. Two of the eight helicopters went off course and returned to the aircraft carrier.
The second “pleasant” surprise awaited Beckwith, “Delta” and the rangers at the site * “Desert-1”. The site, prepared by CIA operatives, was located next to a busy highway, and the Americans were amazed at the sheer volume of traffic moving directly in front of the landing plane. In addition, almost all the rangers who were supposed to guard the perimeter were vomiting from the shaking in the air. Only two were able to control the motorcycles and, upon approaching the highway, they managed to stop the bus, taking its passengers and driver prisoner.
The rangers first shot at the truck moving behind the bus from a machine gun, and then launched a grenade from an under-barrel grenade launcher. A pillar of flame shot up into the night sky. It turns out they shot a fuel truck. The minibus following the truck turned around, picked up the driver of the fuel truck and sped away. One of the rangers on a motorcycle tried to catch up with him, but soon gave up the pursuit and turned back. It was impossible to catch up with the minibus.
HIS MAJESTY THE CASE
The remaining six helicopters arrived fifty minutes late. And immediately the helicopter commander advised Beckwith to “cancel the rescue of the hostages.” Beckwith was faced with the problem of whether to continue the operation or not. All the helicopters were packed to capacity so that there was no room for hostages. But if you leave part of the assault team, will there be enough strength to free the hostages? And then remove and evacuate fifty-four people by helicopter? What if one or two more helicopters fail?
But while Beckwith was racking his brains, His Majesty Chance decided everything for him. After refueling from the C-130, one of the Seahorses, maneuvering in a dust cloud raised by the rotor, touched the refueling aircraft with its blades. Sparks flew, and the next moment there was a colossal explosion. After this, it became clear that the operation had failed, and Beckwith ordered an emergency evacuation. In a state of near panic, Delta, the Rangers and the others boarded the Hercules and two Seahorse" The Iranians were left with a burnt-out C-130 and RH-53D with the corpses of their crews and three entire helicopters, allegedly damaged in the explosion of a tanker aircraft. Secret documents related to Operation Eagle Claw remained aboard the entire RH-53D Sea Stellion. Having failed the operation, Beckwith was unable to fulfill the personal request of US President Jimmy Carter: “Bring back all the bodies of the dead Americans...!”
REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF OPERATION EAGLE CLAW
Much has been written in the Western press about the reasons for the failure of the hostage rescue operation in Tehran. Some said that the weather was to blame, others, including Beckwith, blamed the helicopter pilots, others blamed Beckwith for everything, etc.
The fallacy of such judgments lies in the polarity of opinions.
When analyzing the reasons for a failed operation, you should consider:
First. Negligent actions of the CIA in operational support of the operation; The Desert-1 site was chosen next to a busy highway. The Western press wrote that this CIA operation was “on the drum”; amid this noise, it was planning the overthrow of the Khomeini regime. It would be more correct to entrust the preparation of the operation military intelligence. After all, there is one department, it is easier to coordinate actions.
Second. Despite the fact that Beckwith was the author of the operation plan, he could not select the personnel that he needed, in particular helicopter pilots. By virtue of his rank and position, Beckwith could not challenge the decisions made by the generals. In my opinion, in this case, over Beckwith there should have been not a commander (the head of a temporary combined arms tactical group), but a coordinator (in the GRU special forces he is called an operational officer) to resolve those issues that the leader of the operation himself, due to his official position, could not resolve able. In this case, the leader of the operation is given carte blanche, but he bears full responsibility for the success or failure of the operation,
Third. The inability or unwillingness of some participants in the operation to perform their functions. After this incident, the US Department of Defense made appropriate conclusions and, equipped with the most modern technology. They are designed to deliver and support ground and naval special forces anywhere in the world.
Fourth. Americans underestimating their enemy - Iranian people. It is very problematic to be in a hostile country for about a day and a half and conduct an operation in the center of a multimillion-dollar city filled with hatred towards Americans. Beckwith was probably haunted by the success of the Israelis four years ago,
Conclusion - carrying out special operations is always associated with great risk, and especially for the release of hostages. Therefore, when planning special operations, it is necessary to take into account any, even the smallest details. After all, as you know, there are no trifles in war.
(K. Nikitin, “Soldier of Fortune”)
I was very interested in Operation Eagle Claw. For those who are not yet in the know, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the details and results.
The Americans have a special forces unit called Delta. In the United States, Delta is widely known from Hollywood films as “Charlie's brainchild.” In “adjacent” (here the “competing” thesis does not reflect reality) specialized organizations all over the world, the Delta people became famous as “Special Forces that never knew victories.” In general, it was like this.
When the Americans decided to create their own special forces, Charles Beckwith, a highly decorated “Green Beret” who enjoys the reputation of being “not a little frostbitten,” was given the job of doing this vital task. To master the basics of his profession, he was sent to England to the 22nd SAS Regiment. The Sasovites, quite rightly by the way, are considered tough guys in the world and have many successful operations to their credit. Apparently, Charlie studied poorly, because he was infinitely cool. It is not known what happened there, but after some time, the brothers in the camp sent the attacking Charlie back. Provided with a beautiful diploma. In his homeland, he selected a team for himself and began harsh training, punctuated by equally harsh choral screams. And finally, ta-ta-ta-da!!! (fanfare begins) On November 21, 1977, Delta Force entered service.
On April 25, 1980, in Tehran, a raging crowd of religious fanatics threw eight corpses of American servicemen into the square in front of the US Embassy under the guns of journalists' television cameras: five Air Force pilots and three US Marine Corps aviation pilots. Later, all TV channels around the world showed the wreckage of an airplane and a helicopter, as well as three entire helicopters RH-53 D"Sea Stallion", which remained forever in the Iranian desert. Thus ended the attempt of the anti-terrorism group "Delta" to free 54 hostages seized on November 4, 1979 in the American embassy by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with the decisive blessing of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Delta background
The history of Delta begins in the 1960s, when the command of the American Green Berets entered into an agreement with the British SAS (three separate regiments of the SAS special aviation service formed the basis of the forces special operations Great Britain) on mutual exchange of people. The first American to go to England was the commander of the 7th Green Beret group, Colonel Edwards, and the next year Captain Charles Beckwith went there. In July 1962, he arrived at the 22nd SAS Regiment, where he experienced first-hand the entire complex system of selection and training of personnel, developed by the British 21 years ago and subsequently improved.
The first discovery that Beckwith made was this: the right to wear a beret with the SAS emblem must be earned through a lot of sweat and blood. Suffice it to say that only the verification tests in the SAS regiment are divided into five stages and take six months.
Returning from England in 1963, Beckwith began to convince his leadership of the need to create a special unit similar to the SAS. The command responded to Beckwith's proposal. A small detachment was created, codenamed "Blue Light". The “ideological organizer and inspirer” himself ended up in Vietnam, where he was allowed to form a detachment modeled on the SAS. Beckwith's group was called "D". She successfully participated in many operations against the Viet Cong.
In Vietnam, Beckwith was wounded in the stomach and fell three times in downed helicopters, but survived. On November 21, 1970, Beckwith participated in an operation to free American prisoners from the San Pai camp near Hanoi. The operation was played out like clockwork, but there were no prisoners in the camp...
Vietnam ended and the era of international terrorism began. All this time, Beckwith was haunted by the idea of creating an American analogue of SAS. Beckwith's idea received a new impetus after successful operation carried out by the German group GHA-9 to liberate a Lufthansa plane in Mogadishu. Not wanting to lag behind Germany, the White House gave the green light to the anti-terrorist fight. Beckwith began to create a special unit, which, in memory of his unit during the Vietnam War, he called “Delta”.
It took two years to form and prepare Delta. It turned out to be a copy of the English CAS, adjusted for the United States. The Americans were mainly trained by SAS experts, sharing their experience in the fight against terrorism. And just as Delta was getting back on its feet, news came: the US embassy in Iran had been captured, and fifty-four US State Department employees were taken hostage.
"Pot of Rice"
From that moment on, preparations began for the operation to free the hostages. By order of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David Jones, a temporary combined arms tactical group was created from representatives of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The planning and preparation stage of the hostage rescue operation was codenamed “Pot of Rice”, and the operation itself on Iranian territory was called “Eagle Claw”. Major General James Voth was appointed commander of the group, and Air Force Major General Philip Gast was his deputy for aviation affairs. Colonel Beckwith and Air Force Colonel Kyle were directly involved in the development of the operation. Both of them had extensive experience in planning special operations, but due to the prevailing circumstances they could not resist the instructions of Generals Voth and Gast, who often expressed incorrect judgment or agreed with dubious recommendations.
Liberation plan
The plan for the release of the hostages was as follows: two Delta squadrons and a company of Rangers on three C-130 Hercules aircraft with attached refueling aircraft were to land at the Desert-1 point, which was located approximately 370 km southeast of Tehran . Eight RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters, which were based on the Nimitz aircraft carrier located in the Persian Gulf, were also supposed to fly there. The difference between airplane and helicopter landings was supposed to be 30 minutes. After landing the Delta and refueling the helicopters, the Hercules planes were supposed to return to the departure airfield, and the helicopters were to deliver the Delta fighters to a pre-planned shelter near Tehran, which was two hours away by flight, and then fly to another point, 90 km from the Delta shelter, and remain there under camouflage nets throughout the next day.
On the evening of April 25, CIA operatives, who had been dispatched to Iran in advance, had to deliver the Delta to the US Embassy in six trucks. Closer to midnight, the group was supposed to storm the embassy building: get to the windows along the outer walls, get inside, eliminate the guards and free the hostages. Then it was planned to call helicopters and evacuate either from the embassy territory or from the nearby football field. The evacuation was to be supported from the air by two AC-130N fire support aircraft.
In the early morning of April 26, the helicopters, flying 65 km south, would land at the Manzariye airfield, which by that time was controlled by a company of Rangers. From there, the hostages were supposed to be flown to the United States on two C-141 jets, and the Rangers were supposed to return on C-130 planes.
All operational support for the operation was entrusted to the Central Intelligence Agency. The selection of landing sites, provision of transport, routes around the city - all these issues were worked out by CIA officers and brought to the attention of the participants in the operation.
One of the elements
A full-scale mock-up of the Tehran embassy complex was built in Florida, and Delta began training. It was then that it was discovered that much was not taken into account in the proposed plan. For example, one of the important elements of the tactical group - the helicopter pilots - could fail. The fact is that the Navy command insisted that Navy pilots participate in the operation (motivation - army helicopters that do not have folding blades will not be able to fit on an aircraft carrier), and allocated crews of helicopters - sea minesweepers - for the operation. During the training, it became clear that the flight crews did not want to learn night and “blind” flights and were not eager to participate in the rescue of hostages. With great difficulty, Beckwith managed to replace the Navy pilots with US Marine pilots. Things have moved forward. In total, Delta conducted 79 night hostage rescue drills. Beckwith was more or less calm, but did not fully trust the helicopter crews, believing that they could fail.
"Murphy's Law"
And now, after numerous approvals and modifications, the tactical combined arms group was ready to begin rescuing the hostages. On April 20, Delta and Rangers in Hercules moved to Wadi Qena, a remote airfield in Egypt. The helicopters were relocated to the aircraft carrier Nimitz. On April 24, the group concentrated in the area of Masirah Island. Three hours after arriving at Masiru, the final command "Forward" was received. And then “Murphy’s law,” or, in Russian, “the law of meanness,” came into force. Helicopters taking off from Nimitz encountered a weather phenomenon known in Iran as "habub" - rising into the air small particles dust. Visibility decreased to zero. Two of the eight helicopters went off course and returned to the aircraft carrier.
The second “pleasant” surprise awaited Beckwith, Delta and the rangers at the Desert-1 site. The site, prepared by CIA operatives, was located next to a busy highway, and the Americans were amazed a huge amount vehicles moving directly in front of the landing plane. In addition, almost all the rangers who were supposed to guard the perimeter were vomiting from the shaking in the air. Only two were able to control the motorcycles and, upon approaching the highway, they managed to stop the bus, taking its passengers and driver prisoner.
The rangers first shot at the truck moving behind the bus from a machine gun, and then launched a grenade from an under-barrel grenade launcher. A pillar of flame shot up into the night sky. It turns out they shot a fuel truck. The minibus following the truck turned around, picked up the driver of the fuel truck and sped away. One of the rangers on a motorcycle tried to catch up with him, but soon gave up the pursuit and turned back. It was impossible to catch up with the minibus.
His Majesty the Case
The remaining six helicopters arrived fifty minutes late. And immediately the helicopter commander advised Beckwith to “cancel the rescue of the hostages.” Beckwith was faced with the problem of whether to continue the operation or not. All the helicopters were packed to capacity so that there was no room for hostages. But if you leave part of the assault team, will there be enough strength to free the hostages? And then remove and evacuate fifty-four people by helicopter? What if one or two more helicopters fail?
But while Beckwith was racking his brains, His Majesty Chance decided everything for him. After refueling from the C-130, one of the Seahorses, maneuvering in a dust cloud raised by the rotor, touched the refueling aircraft with its blades. Sparks flew, and the next moment there was a colossal explosion. After this, it became clear that the operation had failed, and Beckwith ordered an emergency evacuation. In a state of near panic, Delta, the Rangers and the others boarded the Hercules and two Seahorses.
When an Iranian patrol arrived at the scene of the night explosions the next day, they found the abandoned and burned remains of the plane and helicopter. Their photographs subsequently spread all over the world. The Iranians thus received a burnt-out C-130 and RH-53D with the corpses of their crews and three intact helicopters, allegedly damaged in the explosion of a tanker aircraft. Secret documents related to Operation Eagle Claw remained aboard the entire RH-53D Sea Stallion.
Having failed the operation, Beckwith was unable to fulfill the personal request of US President Jimmy Carter: “Bring back all the bodies of the dead Americans...”. As a result, the President became the victim of an indignant public opinion, and then voters. For Colonel Beckwith, who, in fact, was the least guilty of all, this also became the end of his career - he was sent to early retirement. The Iranians scattered the hostages throughout the country to prevent any new attempts at liberation, and besides, they received quite material evidence in anti-American propaganda.
A total of five soldiers were killed in this operation. Air Force(C-130 crew), and three Command personnel maritime transport USA (crew of RH-53), one civilian died on the Iranian side - the driver of a fuel tanker.
Why did the Eagle Claw break off?
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Much has been written in the Western press about the reasons for the failure of the hostage rescue operation in Tehran. Some said that the weather was to blame, others, including Beckwith, blamed the helicopter pilots, others blamed Beckwith for everything, etc.
The fallacy of such judgments lies in the polarity of opinions.
When analyzing the reasons for a failed operation, you should consider:
First. Negligent actions of the CIA in operational support of the operation: the Desert-1 site was chosen next to a busy highway. The Western press wrote that the CIA “didn’t care” about this operation; amid this noise, it was planning the overthrow of the Khomeini regime. It would be more correct to entrust the preparation of the operation to military intelligence. After all, there is one department, it is easier to coordinate actions.
Second. Despite the fact that Beckwith was the author of the operation plan, he could not select the personnel that he needed, in particular helicopter pilots. By virtue of his rank and position, Beckwith could not challenge the decisions made by the generals. In my opinion, in this case, over Beckwith there should have been not a commander (the head of a temporary combined arms tactical group), but a coordinator (in the GRU special forces he is called an operational officer) to resolve those issues that the leader of the operation himself, due to his official position, could not resolve able. In this case, the leader of the operation is given carte blanche, but he bears full responsibility for the success or failure of the operation.
Third. The inability or unwillingness of some participants in the operation to perform their functions. After this incident, the US Department of Defense drew appropriate conclusions and created special units in the Air Force, equipped with the most modern technology. They are designed to deliver and support the actions of ground and naval special forces anywhere in the world.
Fourth. Americans underestimating their enemy - the Iranian people. It is very problematic to be in a hostile country for about a day and a half and conduct an operation in the center of a multimillion-dollar city filled with hatred towards Americans. Probably Beckwith was haunted by the success of the Israelis four years ago.
Conclusion – Conducting special operations is always associated with great risk, and especially for the release of hostages. Therefore, when planning special operations, it is necessary to take into account any, even the smallest details. After all, as you know, there are no trifles in war.
The bullet hit the bulletproof vest...
31 years ago, in April 1980, Operation Eagle Claw, carried out by US Army Special Forces in Iran to free hostages, ended ingloriously. The failure hurt the prestige of the United States, cost the presidency to J. Carter and led to the growth of anti-American sentiment in the region. The lessons of the failed operation are especially valuable today - collision high technology With reality there are always many surprises.
In November 1979, during anti-Shah protests in Iran, a crowd of armed students broke into the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 53 US citizens hostage. These events became the prologue to the preparation of the operation, code-named “Eagle Claw” (Eagle Claw) to free the hostages, carried out by the top-secret group of army special forces “Delta Force”.
President Carter did not seriously consider the demands of the terrorists (the return of the Shah from the United States to face trial, an apology from the US administration for crimes against the Iranian people and compensation for damages), but expected to use almost the entire arsenal of available means to free his citizens: diplomatic negotiations, freezing Iranian assets in banks, boycott Iranian oil, the threat of mining water areas and airstrikes and, finally, conducting a special operation.
The decisive role in the special operation was given to the anti-terrorist group "Delta" from the special forces of the US Army, created in 1977. Operation Eagle Claw was the first, but not the last track record special forces.
Plan for Operation Eagle Claw
The liberation plan was very complex, long (two nights) and multi-stage due to Tehran’s distance from maritime boundaries and placing hostages in big city. Details of the plan were only declassified a few years ago.
On the first night, the Delta group (more than 100 fighters) was transferred from Masirah airbase (Oman) to Iran on 3 MS-130 transport aircraft, accompanied by 3 more aircraft - EC-130 refueling aircraft, which landed at the Desert refueling site. 1" (Desert One).
8 RH-53D helicopters also arrived here from the Nimitz aircraft carrier, which was located in the Arabian Sea. For the success of the operation, 6 helicopters were enough. After overnight refueling, the helicopters should transfer the Delta group to the Desert 2 holding position near Tehran.
Having waited out the day in shelters, the next night the Delta group, dressed in civilian clothes, was supposed to make a swift rush to Tehran in vehicles provided by American agents previously deployed to Iran.
Having reached the embassy, the commandos destroy the guards and free the hostages. The evacuation of special forces and hostages was planned to be carried out using RH-53D helicopters, which were to land on the territory of the embassy or at the nearest stadium. Air fire support was provided by three AC-130 attack aircraft armed with rapid-firing cannons.
RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters that took off from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) are heading to Iran (all will remain there forever)
Next, helicopters evacuate the special forces and hostages to the abandoned Manzariyeh airfield, which by that time should be captured and held by another squad of Rangers. Medium C-141 transport aircraft land at the airfield and transport all participants in the operation to a secret airbase in Egypt under the cover of US Navy carrier-based fighters.
In the development of the special operation plan, space imagery materials received from the Keyhole-11 optical-electronic reconnaissance satellites played a huge role.
Using satellite images, CIA analysts identified the location of military facilities in Tehran and identified potential targets (industrial facilities in the oil refining industry) for airstrikes in the event of a threat to the lives of the hostages.
Regularly received space images became a source of specific information about the embassy security system. The photographs clearly showed anti-helicopter poles, which were placed everywhere in areas suitable for landing helicopters.
Space intelligence was used to select Desert 1 sites for helicopter refueling, hideouts where special forces would wait for nightfall, and to locate an abandoned airfield from which transport planes would evacuate commandos and hostages from Iran.
Data obtained by means of electronic and human intelligence were also widely used to plan the operation. Professional CIA operatives were actively sent to Iran, working under the cover of businessmen and journalists. Agents monitored the embassy's security and confirmed the safety of the landing, shelter and deployment sites selected from satellite images.
For the first time, night imaging devices were widely used, which made it possible to establish the embassy security system and determine the weapons of the guards.
Following the failure of diplomatic liberation efforts, President Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw on April 16.
Tactical transport aircraft C-130
On the evening of April 24, 1980, six C-130 transport aircraft with special forces on board at an extremely low altitude of 75 m to avoid detection by air defense radars, invaded Iranian airspace and successfully reached the Desert-1 refueling point.
Immediately the surprises began: chosen as runway The road turned out to be a fairly busy highway at night. The special forces had to use weapons to stop a night bus with Iranians, anti-tank missile another truck was destroyed. Another Iranian car disappeared into the darkness at high speed, the factors of surprise and secrecy were lost.
Failures also plagued the helicopter pilots: 8 aircraft that took off from the aircraft carrier were caught in a sandstorm, as a result of which one helicopter made an emergency landing in the desert due to a breakdown (the crew was evacuated), the second lost its orientation and, under conditions of a ban on radio broadcasting, was forced to return to an aircraft carrier. The third helicopter reached the refueling point, but due to a technical breakdown could not continue its flight.
The remaining five helicopters were not enough to successfully complete the operation, so an order was received via satellite communication to cancel it. One of the helicopters took off after refueling, but the pilot became disorientated in a cloud of dust and collided with an EC-130 tanker aircraft. A fire instantly broke out, killing eight pilots.
Disaster as a result of a helicopter colliding with a refueling aircraft, the remaining C-130 aircraft take off, unrefueled helicopters are left in the desert
Transport planes began to taxi out of the fire zone. During the hasty evacuation, six entire helicopters and secret documents were abandoned in the desert, jeopardizing the safety of CIA agents embedded in Iran.
The wreckage of a burnt C-130 tanker aircraft
Iranian newspapers published for the first time captured top-secret space images of objects in Tehran obtained using the Keyhole-11 reconnaissance satellites. The tragedy and shame of the situation was aggravated by the fact that the corpses of the pilots who were burned in the fire also remained in the desert. The captured helicopters subsequently served regularly in combat strength Iranian Navy Aviation.
Iranians inspect the wreckage of a helicopter
The failure of the special operation became a national disgrace for the United States, gave impetus to the growth of anti-American sentiment and cost Carter the presidency. The hostages were released as a result of negotiations only after 444 days of captivity on January 20, 1981, the last day presidential term J. Carter, who lost the election to Ronald Reagan.
Based on the results of an analysis of the reasons for the failure of the operation, a joint special operations command was formed and reorganizations were carried out in the military department.
Advances in military technology would make it possible today to carry out operations at more high level: onboard GPS systems will not give pilots a chance to get lost at night in the desert; operational weather support will allow them to bypass sandstorms, and satellite noise-free radio communications will ensure constant radio contact between the participants in the operation.
The wreckage of a burnt car against the backdrop of an abandoned helicopter
However, history shows that not everything in the world is solved by technology. Not without the participation of the United States, over the next 27 years the situation in the region consistently worsened. In counterbalance to Tehran's growing influence, the US administration will actively support Saddam Hussein's regime in the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war.
Two wars with the participation of the United States will end in the region, as a result of which Iraq will be occupied and slide into the chaos of civil war. Saddam Hussein will be executed for crimes that he committed with the tacit approval of the United States, and US allies will be divided into two camps - those who will send platoons, companies, battalions to Iraq to demonstrate allied loyalty and those who will abstain.
If historical memory exists, it should suggest that a new armed action against Iran will be another rung on the ladder leading to chaos and instability.
In this operation, US Air Force personnel and the crew of the EC-130 aircraft were killed:
- Major Harold Lewis Jr.
- Major Lyn McIntosh
- Major Richard Bakke
- Captain Charles McMillian
- Technical Sergeant Joel Mayo
- Staff Sergeant Dewey Johnson
- Sergeant John Harvey
- Corporal George Holmes
- Fuel truck driver (unidentified)
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