Operation Nickel Grass
Encyclopedia
Operation Nickel Grass was an overt strategic airlift operation
conducted by the United States
to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel
during the Yom Kippur War
. The Military Airlift Command
of the U.S. Air Force
shipped 22,325 tons of tank
s, artillery
, ammunition
, and supplies in C-141 Starlifter
and C-5 Galaxy
transport aircraft between October 14 and November 14, 1973.
This rapid re-supply mission was critical to the Israeli military's ability to thwart the armed Egyptian and Syrian action. The overall re-supply effort soon had additional far-reaching effects beyond the immediate combatants. Following a further massive U.S. pledge of support on October 19, the oil-exporting Arab states within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC
) held to their previously declared warnings to use oil as a "weapon" and declared a complete oil embargo on the United States, and restrictions on other countries. This, and the contemporaneous failure of major pricing and production negotiations between the exporters and the major oil companies
both led to the 1973 oil crisis
.
and Syria
attacked the Sinai
and the Golan Heights respectively, both territories Israel had invaded and occupied during the Six Day War in 1967. Arab armies moved forward rapidly in the first few days; the Israel Defense Forces
did not manage to stabilize the situation, as was generally expected, and it became clear that Israel was under considerable stress and would need supplies. Anticipating Israeli requests, Henry Kissinger
, the United States Secretary of State
and President Richard Nixon
's National Security Adviser, made arrangements for El Al
to pick up some items, including ammunition, "high technology products" and AIM-9 Sidewinder
missiles at a US naval base in Virginia on October 7, and was later presented with a list of priority arms; a modest effort soon began, but Kissinger still hoped to keep any visible involvement at a minimum. On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister
Golda Meir
authorized the assembly of thirteen 20-kiloton nuclear warheads on Jericho missile
s and F-4s
, which were prepared for action against Syrian and Egyptian targets; their preparation was made easily detectable, likely as a signal to the United States. Kissinger learned of this threatening nuclear escalation on the morning of 9 October. On that same day, Meir issued a personal appeal for military assistance, which European nations declined. U.S. President
Richard Nixon
, however, ordered the commencement of Operation Nickel Grass, to replace all of Israel's materiel
losses. The decision was taken the same day the Soviets
began their own resupply operation of Arab forces by sea. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kissinger had told Anwar El Sadat that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to "going nuclear."
seemed willing to help though, so aircraft were dispatched to Lajes Field
in the Azores Islands
. After a few hours in the air, word came through that Portugal would permit them to land, and Lajes became a key staging point for the rest of the airlift. Strategic Air Command (SAC) KC-135As were the first to arrive at Lajes Air Base. The Stratotankers had left Pease AFB NH the night of Saturday, 13 October (one of the bases El Al was using to re-supply the war effort), the tankers were ferrying factory-fresh A-4 and F-4 aircraft flying non-stop from the factory in St Louis Missouri to Ben Gurion Airport. To comply with the demands of other European nations, even U.S. supplies already stationed in Europe were routed through Lajes, and soon over thirty aircraft per day were moving through Lajes. To accommodate this, the base instantly grew to house an extra 1,300 people who were billeted in improvised housing and hastily reactivated World War II
barracks
, rooms that would normally accommodate one or two enlisted men were expanded to four (2 bunk-beds).
Between Portugal and Israel, the aircraft had to follow an extremely precise route. Flying exactly along the airspace border between hostile Arab nations to the south and European nations to the north, the transport craft flew down the middle of the Mediterranean Sea
to Israel. Fighter
escort was deemed necessary for this leg of the journey, so American fighters from the U.S. 6th Fleet escorted the transports to within 150 miles of Israel, where Israeli Air Force
Phantoms
and Mirages
escorted them into Ben Gurion International Airport
. Along the Mediterranean route, American ships were stationed every 300 miles, and an aircraft carrier
every 600 miles. These precautions appeared justified when unidentified Arab fighters made threats over the radio, but no conflict ensued. Upon arrival, the transports were unloaded by U.S. and Israeli servicemen before they returned home and supplies were expedited to the front where they arrived within a few hours. The first C-5 transport airplane arrived at Lod airport on October 14, 6:30 PM local time. By then, however, Israel was already winning the war.
Airlifted supplies were not all that was delivered under Nickel Grass. In the opening days of the war, Arab forces destroyed significant numbers of Israeli Air Force aircraft, surprising the Israelis with aggressive use of the new Soviet SA-6 Gainful
Surface-to-air missile
. Consequently, 40 F-4 Phantom II fighters were sent to Israel under Nickel Grass, coming from the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing
, the 33d Tactical Fighter Wing
and the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing
. They were flown to Lod
, where American pilots were swapped for their Israeli counterparts. After the replacement of USAF insignia with IAF insignia if needed, the planes were refueled and ordered to the front, often taking to the air within hours of having arrived. Interestingly, some aircraft came directly from the USAFE fleet and operated in USAF camouflage
, but with Israeli insignia. Nine days after the initial attack, Israel launched counterattacks. 36 A-4 Skyhawks from U.S. stocks, staging from Lajes were refueled by tankers from the USS John F. Kennedy east of the Straits of Gibraltar. They then flew on to the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt south of Sicily where they stayed overnight, then continued on to Israel refueling once more from tankers launched from the USS Independence south of Crete. Twelve C-130E Hercules transports were also transferred to Israel, the first of the type to be delivered to the IDF/AF.
When the third cease-fire resolution was finally implemented on October 24, the airlift immediately slowed. Further flights were made to rebuild Israeli forces to their pre-war strength, and Operation Nickel Grass was ended on November 14. In the end, the military airlift shipped 22,325 tons of materiel
to Israel. Additionally, the United States conducted its own seaborne re-supply operation, delivering 33,210 tons to Israel by October 30. During the same general time, the Soviets airlifted 12,500–15,000 tons of supplies, more than half of which went to Syria; they also supplied another 63,000 tons mainly to Syria by means of a sealift.
.
Nickel Grass also revealed a severe deficiency in American airlift capabilities: the need for staging bases overseas. Without Portugal's assistance, the airlift might not even have been possible. As a result, the U.S. greatly expanded its aerial refueling
capabilities and made long-distance flight operations the standard rather than the exception.
A GAO study of the operation discussed the shortcomings of the C-141A. As a result, the C-141B was conceived. The A models were sent back to Georgia where they were cut fore and aft of the wing, extended in length by three pallet positions, and refitted for in-flight refueling.
Nickel Grass vindicated the Air Force decision to purchase the C-5 Galaxy
. Since its introduction in 1970, the C-5 had been plagued by problems. The Air Force claimed to have rectified the problems, but the C-5 was still viewed by the press as an expensive failure. During Nickel Grass, C-5s carried 48% of the total cargo in only 145 of the 567 total missions. The C-5 also carried "outsize" cargo such as M60 Patton
tanks, M109 howitzer
s, ground radar systems, mobile tractor units, CH-53 Sea Stallion
helicopters, and A-4 Skyhawk
components; cargo that could not fit in smaller aircraft. This performance justified the C-5's existence.
Another effect of the operation was the near-resignation of then United States chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
(JCS) General George Brown
. Brown was reportedly livid that American weapons and munitions were being sent to a foreign country at the same time that the American command
in Vietnam
was protesting a lack of supplies in its theater of operations.
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
conducted by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
during the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
. The Military Airlift Command
Military Airlift Command
The Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command of the USAF which was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It was constituted on 1 January 1966 and active until the end of the Cold War, when the Air Force table of organization was revised...
of the U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
shipped 22,325 tons of tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
, and supplies in C-141 Starlifter
C-141 Starlifter
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command of the United States Air Force...
and C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
transport aircraft between October 14 and November 14, 1973.
This rapid re-supply mission was critical to the Israeli military's ability to thwart the armed Egyptian and Syrian action. The overall re-supply effort soon had additional far-reaching effects beyond the immediate combatants. Following a further massive U.S. pledge of support on October 19, the oil-exporting Arab states within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
) held to their previously declared warnings to use oil as a "weapon" and declared a complete oil embargo on the United States, and restrictions on other countries. This, and the contemporaneous failure of major pricing and production negotiations between the exporters and the major oil companies
Seven Sisters (oil companies)
The "Seven Sisters" was a term coined in the 1950s by businessman Enrico Mattei, then-head of the Italian state oil company Eni, to describe the seven oil companies which formed the "Consortium for Iran" and dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s...
both led to the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
.
Background
Israel, as well as the US and most of the world, were largely caught by surprise on October 6, 1973, when EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
attacked the Sinai
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
and the Golan Heights respectively, both territories Israel had invaded and occupied during the Six Day War in 1967. Arab armies moved forward rapidly in the first few days; the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
did not manage to stabilize the situation, as was generally expected, and it became clear that Israel was under considerable stress and would need supplies. Anticipating Israeli requests, Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, the United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
and President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's National Security Adviser, made arrangements for El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
to pick up some items, including ammunition, "high technology products" and AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
missiles at a US naval base in Virginia on October 7, and was later presented with a list of priority arms; a modest effort soon began, but Kissinger still hoped to keep any visible involvement at a minimum. On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
authorized the assembly of thirteen 20-kiloton nuclear warheads on Jericho missile
Jericho missile
Jericho is a general designation given to the Israeli ballistic missiles. The name is taken from the first development contract signed between Israel and Dassault in 1963, with the codename as a reference to the Biblical city of Jericho...
s and F-4s
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
, which were prepared for action against Syrian and Egyptian targets; their preparation was made easily detectable, likely as a signal to the United States. Kissinger learned of this threatening nuclear escalation on the morning of 9 October. On that same day, Meir issued a personal appeal for military assistance, which European nations declined. U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, however, ordered the commencement of Operation Nickel Grass, to replace all of Israel's materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
losses. The decision was taken the same day the Soviets
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
began their own resupply operation of Arab forces by sea. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kissinger had told Anwar El Sadat that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to "going nuclear."
Operation
Initially, only the Israeli national airline, El Al, provided transport, and supplies began to arrive in Israel on October 10, the same day the first Soviet resupply by air arrived in Damascus. Nonetheless, it was soon clear that El Al's limited supply of ill-configured passenger aircraft were insufficient. Still wanting to avoid direct US involvement, starting October 10, the use of commercial carriers was explored to provide 10-20 flights a day. None of these were willing to accept the job for fear of being refused entry to Arab nations after the war. On October 12, Nixon decided that no more delays could be allowed, and ordered the air force to "send everything that can fly." Within nine hours, C-141s and C-5s were en-route to Israel. The political maneuvering was not immediately solved by the air force's participation however: traditional European allies refused to allow re-supply aircraft to land for refueling or even overfly their territory. PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
seemed willing to help though, so aircraft were dispatched to Lajes Field
Lajes Field
Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base , officially designated Air Base No. 4 , is a multi-use air field, home to the Portuguese Air Force Base Aérea Nº4 and Azores Air Zone Command , a United States Air Force detachment , and a regional air passenger terminal located near Lajes...
in the Azores Islands
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. After a few hours in the air, word came through that Portugal would permit them to land, and Lajes became a key staging point for the rest of the airlift. Strategic Air Command (SAC) KC-135As were the first to arrive at Lajes Air Base. The Stratotankers had left Pease AFB NH the night of Saturday, 13 October (one of the bases El Al was using to re-supply the war effort), the tankers were ferrying factory-fresh A-4 and F-4 aircraft flying non-stop from the factory in St Louis Missouri to Ben Gurion Airport. To comply with the demands of other European nations, even U.S. supplies already stationed in Europe were routed through Lajes, and soon over thirty aircraft per day were moving through Lajes. To accommodate this, the base instantly grew to house an extra 1,300 people who were billeted in improvised housing and hastily reactivated World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
, rooms that would normally accommodate one or two enlisted men were expanded to four (2 bunk-beds).
Between Portugal and Israel, the aircraft had to follow an extremely precise route. Flying exactly along the airspace border between hostile Arab nations to the south and European nations to the north, the transport craft flew down the middle of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
to Israel. Fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
escort was deemed necessary for this leg of the journey, so American fighters from the U.S. 6th Fleet escorted the transports to within 150 miles of Israel, where Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
Phantoms
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
and Mirages
Dassault Mirage III
The Mirage III is a supersonic fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation during the late 1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries. It was a successful fighter aircraft, being sold to many air forces around the world and remaining in production for over a decade...
escorted them into Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
. Along the Mediterranean route, American ships were stationed every 300 miles, and an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
every 600 miles. These precautions appeared justified when unidentified Arab fighters made threats over the radio, but no conflict ensued. Upon arrival, the transports were unloaded by U.S. and Israeli servicemen before they returned home and supplies were expedited to the front where they arrived within a few hours. The first C-5 transport airplane arrived at Lod airport on October 14, 6:30 PM local time. By then, however, Israel was already winning the war.
Airlifted supplies were not all that was delivered under Nickel Grass. In the opening days of the war, Arab forces destroyed significant numbers of Israeli Air Force aircraft, surprising the Israelis with aggressive use of the new Soviet SA-6 Gainful
SA-6 Gainful
The 2K12 "Kub" mobile surface-to-air missile system is a Soviet low to medium-level air defence system designed to protect ground forces from air attack. "2К12" is the GRAU designation of the system...
Surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
. Consequently, 40 F-4 Phantom II fighters were sent to Israel under Nickel Grass, coming from the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing
4th Fighter Wing
The 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit....
, the 33d Tactical Fighter Wing
33d Fighter Wing
The 33d Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command's Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida where it is a tenant unit....
and the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing
57th Wing
The 57th Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.-Mission:The 57...
. They were flown to Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
, where American pilots were swapped for their Israeli counterparts. After the replacement of USAF insignia with IAF insignia if needed, the planes were refueled and ordered to the front, often taking to the air within hours of having arrived. Interestingly, some aircraft came directly from the USAFE fleet and operated in USAF camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
, but with Israeli insignia. Nine days after the initial attack, Israel launched counterattacks. 36 A-4 Skyhawks from U.S. stocks, staging from Lajes were refueled by tankers from the USS John F. Kennedy east of the Straits of Gibraltar. They then flew on to the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt south of Sicily where they stayed overnight, then continued on to Israel refueling once more from tankers launched from the USS Independence south of Crete. Twelve C-130E Hercules transports were also transferred to Israel, the first of the type to be delivered to the IDF/AF.
When the third cease-fire resolution was finally implemented on October 24, the airlift immediately slowed. Further flights were made to rebuild Israeli forces to their pre-war strength, and Operation Nickel Grass was ended on November 14. In the end, the military airlift shipped 22,325 tons of materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
to Israel. Additionally, the United States conducted its own seaborne re-supply operation, delivering 33,210 tons to Israel by October 30. During the same general time, the Soviets airlifted 12,500–15,000 tons of supplies, more than half of which went to Syria; they also supplied another 63,000 tons mainly to Syria by means of a sealift.
Effects
Operation Nickel Grass had immediate and far-reaching effects. Arab members of OPEC had declared they would limit or stop oil shipments to the United States and other countries if they supported Israel in the conflict. Holding to their threats, the Arab states declared a complete oil embargo on the United States. Oil prices skyrocketed, fuel became scarce, and the United States was soon embroiled in the 1973 oil crisis1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
.
Nickel Grass also revealed a severe deficiency in American airlift capabilities: the need for staging bases overseas. Without Portugal's assistance, the airlift might not even have been possible. As a result, the U.S. greatly expanded its aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
capabilities and made long-distance flight operations the standard rather than the exception.
A GAO study of the operation discussed the shortcomings of the C-141A. As a result, the C-141B was conceived. The A models were sent back to Georgia where they were cut fore and aft of the wing, extended in length by three pallet positions, and refitted for in-flight refueling.
Nickel Grass vindicated the Air Force decision to purchase the C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
. Since its introduction in 1970, the C-5 had been plagued by problems. The Air Force claimed to have rectified the problems, but the C-5 was still viewed by the press as an expensive failure. During Nickel Grass, C-5s carried 48% of the total cargo in only 145 of the 567 total missions. The C-5 also carried "outsize" cargo such as M60 Patton
M60 Patton
The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton, is a first-generation main battle tank introduced in December 1960. It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today...
tanks, M109 howitzer
M109 howitzer
The M109 is an American-made self-propelled 155 mm howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s. It was upgraded a number of times to today's M109A6 Paladin...
s, ground radar systems, mobile tractor units, CH-53 Sea Stallion
CH-53 Sea Stallion
The CH-53 Sea Stallion is the most common name for the Sikorsky S-65 family of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Originally developed for use by the United States Marine Corps, it is also in service with Germany, Iran, Israel, and Mexico...
helicopters, and A-4 Skyhawk
A-4 Skyhawk
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a carrier-capable ground-attack aircraft designed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The delta winged, single-engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated the A4D...
components; cargo that could not fit in smaller aircraft. This performance justified the C-5's existence.
Another effect of the operation was the near-resignation of then United States chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
(JCS) General George Brown
George Scratchley Brown
George Scratchley Brown was a United States Air Force general who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he served as the senior military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
. Brown was reportedly livid that American weapons and munitions were being sent to a foreign country at the same time that the American command
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam
The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV, , was the United States' unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.-History:...
in Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
was protesting a lack of supplies in its theater of operations.