By June 1982, the Lebanese Civil War had been going on — off and on — for seven years. It began as a conflict between Christian Planange Party militia and various Muslim factions, including, the PLO (which had been in Lebanon since 1970, following its ousting from Jordan). As explained by Steve Davies and Doug Dildy in their book F-15 Eagle Engaged, in May 1976 the Syrians added their troops, tanks and aircraft to the mix, ostensibly to stabilize the situation but ultimately to support the Muslim factions and PLO, securing the Damascus—Beirut highway that stretches across central Lebanon. To provide coverage for its south flank — facing Israel — the Syrian 10th Armored Division later deployed across the Bekaa Valley. To protect it from Israeli air raids the Syrians deployed three brigades — totaling 19 batteries — of SAMs. These included two batteries of SA-2s, two of SA-3s and 15 of the new and highly effective SA-6 “Gainful.”
