The Gulf of Sidra (Arabic: خليج السدرة, romanized: Khalij as-Sidra, also known as the Gulf of Sirte (Arabic: خليج سرت, romanized: Khalij Surt), is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya, named after the oil port of Sidra or the city of Sirte.

[4] In ancient literature, the Syrtes (the Greater, or majores, in the eastern and the Lesser, or minores, in the western part of the Gulf) were notorious sandbanks, which sailors always took pains to avoid.

Strabo describes a march by the Roman general, Cato the Younger in 47 BC which took thirty days "through deep and scorching sand".

And while Strabo pointed out the dangers of the sandbanks, he continues: "On this account sailors travel along the coast at a distance, taking care lest they are caught off their guard and driven into these gulfs by winds."

Similarly, Pliny's warning that the gulf was "formidable because of the shallow and tidal water of the two Syrtes" at Natural History 5.26 should be seen in the context of his broader claim in that work that all the coastlines of the Mediterranean were welcoming (NH 2.118).

In response the United States authorized Naval exercises in the Gulf of Sidra to conduct freedom of navigation (FON) operations.

[9] During the encounter, two Libyan Mirage fighters signaled the C-130 to follow them toward Libya and land, prompting the American plane to take evasive action.

In August 1981, during the United States Sixth Fleet Freedom of Navigation exercises, Libyan fighter planes were assembled from elsewhere in the country to fly patrols near the American ships.

Two weeks later on 5 April 1986, a bomb exploded in a West Berlin disco, La Belle, killing two American servicemen, a Turkish woman and wounding 200 others.

[11] The United States claimed to have obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany involved in the attack.

In this instance, the Flogger pilots were reportedly lost when they were fired on and successfully shot down after a series of missile launches, although they were seen to eject and parachute into the sea.