battle, notable, Cold War

Gulf of Sidra incident

Name: Gulf of Sidra incident
Location: Gulf of Sidra, Libya

Gulf of Sidra incident was a battle fought in 1981 at Gulf of Sidra, in what is now Libya. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Gulf of Sidra. The recorded result: US Victory; Two Su-22M3 shot down. Recorded strength: 2 F-14A Tomcats; 1 E-2C Hawkeye; 1 aircraft carrier (Nimitz Class) against 2 Su-22M3s; GCI radar stations.

See it on the globe Read the article

Fought1981

WhereGulf of Sidra, Libya31.500N, 18.000E, placed at the location, approximate

OutcomeUS Victory; Two Su-22M3 shot down

BelligerentsUnited StatesagainstLibyan Arab Jamahiriya

Casualties and lossesNoneand2 aircraft destroyed

Record

Date	1981 (year precision)
Place	Gulf of Sidra, Libya 31.500N, 18.000E
Kind	Battle, Cold War
Strength	2 F-14A Tomcats; 1 E-2C Hawkeye; 1 aircraft carrier (Nimitz Class)	2 Su-22M3s; GCI radar stations
Casualties and losses	None	2 aircraft destroyed
Commanders	Ronald Reagan	Muammar Gaddafi

Placed at Gulf of Sidra; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of El Agheila 1942, 179 km SE
Battle of Kuwayfia 1911, 209 km E
Battle of Beda Fomm 1941, 221 km E
Second Battle of Sirte 1942, 282 km N
Battle of Misrata 1912, 291 km W

Elsewhere in 1981

Gulf of Sidra incident is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 57 in present-day Libya.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2604253, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Gulf of Sidra incident (1981), revision 1384450614, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.