{"id":11028604,"date":"2026-08-10T12:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=11028604"},"modified":"2026-08-24T16:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:57:13","slug":"operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\/","title":{"rendered":"Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>In the first days of October 1973, Israel was losing. Egyptian and Syrian armies had struck on Yom Kippur, and Israeli tanks and aircraft were being destroyed faster than the country could replace them. Then, out of the western sky, came the sound of salvation: the deep drone of American transports, one after another, all day and all night.<\/p><p>The airlift that saved Israel had a deliberately dull codename. It was called Operation Nickel Grass, and it remains one of the greatest feats of military logistics ever flown.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;border-radius:8px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px;line-height:1.8\"><li><strong>Operation:<\/strong> Nickel Grass, U.S. strategic airlift to Israel<\/li><li><strong>When:<\/strong> 14 October - 14 November 1973, during the Yom Kippur War<\/li><li><strong>Delivered:<\/strong> about 22,300 tons of tanks, artillery and ammunition<\/li><li><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> C-141 Starlifters and C-5 Galaxies of Military Airlift Command<\/li><li><strong>Missions:<\/strong> roughly 567, staging through Lajes Field in the Azores<\/li><li><strong>Distance:<\/strong> about 6,450 nautical miles each way<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Send everything that can fly<\/h2><p>As Israeli losses mounted, Prime Minister Golda Meir pleaded with Washington for resupply. After days of hesitation, President Richard Nixon cut through the debate with a single order.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Send everything that can fly.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Richard Nixon<\/strong> &mdash; U.S. President, October 1973<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>On 14 October, the U.S. Air Force&rsquo;s Military Airlift Command began pouring supplies into Israel. Over the next 32 days, C-141 Starlifters and the enormous C-5 Galaxy flew roughly 567 missions, delivering some 22,300 tons of tanks, artillery, ammunition and spare parts straight into Lod airport outside Tel Aviv.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=302258574  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/c-141-starlifter-airlift.jpg\" alt=\"A C-141 Starlifter in flight\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter flew the bulk of the Nickel Grass missions, shuttling war materiel across the Atlantic. Photo: U.S. Air Force \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L_dl8Od4WeQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The problem of distance<\/h2><p>The hard part was geography. Most European allies, fearing an Arab oil embargo, refused to let American aircraft carrying arms land or even overfly their territory. Only Portugal agreed, opening Lajes Field in the Azores as a mid-Atlantic staging post. Without it, the 6,450-nautical-mile haul from the United States to Israel would have been all but impossible.<\/p><p>Even with Lajes, the C-5 crews often flew the final leg into a war zone, sometimes landing as Israeli jets scrambled overhead. The airlift out-delivered the parallel Soviet effort resupplying Egypt and Syria, and it did so in full view of the world.<\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1510468903  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/c-5-galaxy-cargo-unload.jpg\" alt=\"C-5 Galaxy cargo operations\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The cavernous C-5 Galaxy could swallow outsized loads whole - tanks, helicopters, artillery - and fly them across an ocean. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_r-YAjQihDQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The miracle of the immense planes<\/h2><p>The materiel arrived in time to matter. Resupplied and reinforced, Israel turned the war around, crossing the Suez Canal and encircling Egypt&rsquo;s Third Army before a ceasefire took hold. Golda Meir never forgot what the transports had meant.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;For generations to come, all will be told of the miracle of the immense planes from the United States bringing in the material that meant life for our people.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Golda Meir<\/strong> &mdash; Prime Minister of Israel<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>Nickel Grass reshaped how the world understood strategic airlift. It proved that a superpower could project tons of combat power across an ocean in days, not months &mdash; and that sometimes the decisive weapon in a war is a cargo plane.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eCT3mte8sIE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777;font-style:italic\">Sources: Air Mobility Command Museum; Air & Space Forces Magazine; Richard Nixon Foundation; National Air and Space Museum; Wikipedia (Operation Nickel Grass).<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/entebbe-raid-1976-rescue-operation-thunderbolt\/\">Entebbe: 4,000 Kilometres to Rescue the Hostages<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/the-hump-airlift-himalayas-cbi-wwii\/\">The Hump: The Deadliest Airlift of the War<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1973, U.S. C-5 Galaxies and C-141 Starlifters flew 22,000 tons of arms to Israel in 32 days &#8211; Operation Nickel Grass, one of history\\u2019s greatest airlifts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":11028132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11028604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Operation Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1973, U.S. C-5 Galaxies and C-141 Starlifters flew 22,000 tons of arms to Israel in 32 days - Operation Nickel Grass, one of history\u2019s great airlifts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Operation Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1973, U.S. C-5 Galaxies and C-141 Starlifters flew 22,000 tons of arms to Israel in 32 days - Operation Nickel Grass, one of history\u2019s great airlifts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-10T10:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-24T14:57:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:861\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/c-5-galaxy-airlift.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1012\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1268\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tamika Johnson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/88afb39d0a02d6de10537662492fb68d\"},\"headline\":\"Nickel Grass: The Airlift That Saved Israel\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-10T10:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-24T14:57:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":556,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/es\\\/operation-nickel-grass-1973-airlift-israel-c-5-c-141\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/afterburner\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/08\\/c-5-galaxy-airlift.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; 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