Tel Nof Airbase

Tel Nof Airbase , also known as Air Force Base 8, is the oldest and main base of the Israeli Air Force located 5 km south of Rehovot, in the center of Israel. Tel Nof houses two strike fighter, two transport helicopter and a UAV squadron. Also located on the base are the Flight Test Center Manat and several special units of the Israel Defense Forces, among others Unit 669 and the Paratroopers Brigade training center and its headquarters. See also: [|Units].

History (RAF)

British Mandate

Established in the spring of 1941 as RAF Aqir during the British Mandate for Palestine, it served as the main base for the Royal Air Force in Palestine. It was named after the Arab village Aqir north of it that perished in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and was located in the area of today's Kiryat Ekron.

Operational units from 1941 to 1948

History (IAF)

Names of the base

After the British withdrawal from RAF Aqir in May 1948, the base was taken over by the newly founded Israel Defense Forces and renamed Ekron Airbase – after the biblical city of Ekron and today's Kiryat Ekron 1 km north of it – and, from 1950, Tel Nof Airbase. The name "Tel Nof" dates back to the 1930s, when the area was known by this name as an urban development area, similar to the then-thriving "Tel Aviv".

[|First Israeli fighter aircraft]

During the Arab–Israeli War on 29 May 1948, the first four fighter aircraft Avia S-199 of the first squadron 101 "First Fighter" of the new Israeli Air Force took off from here for their first mission, an attack on the Ad Halom Bridge in the eastern outskirts of Ashdod, which was in the hands of Egyptian troops, who advanced on Tel Aviv. Important was less the modest military success of the operation itself – one plane was shot down – than the shock to the Egyptian soldiers when they saw with their own eyes that Israel now had an Air Force – with the Star of David on its wings and fuselage. The advance was delayed, and this gave the Israeli army enough time to bring in troops and stop it.
On 17 August 1948, Ekron Airbase was officially and ceremoniously opened. Hatzor Airbase and Ramat David Airbase taken over from the British soon followed. After the Avia S-199 – imported from Czechoslovakia and a replica of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 made out of parts left over from German war production – additional fighter aircraft were acquired from the stocks of the former Allies, such as the British Supermarine Spitfire and the North American P-51 Mustang. The IAF Flight Academy, which was initially based at Camp Sirkin east of Petah Tikva, was established at Tel Nof in 1955 until it was relocated to the then newly built Hatzerim Airbase in 1966, where it still is today.

First jets at Tel Nof in 119 Squadron "Bat"

The 119 Squadron "Bat" was established in 1956, initially at Ramat David Airbase and was intended to fly night missions with jets. It received used Gloster Meteor NF.13 from the Royal Air Force, with which it shortly thereafter took part in the combat operations of the Suez Crisis. To bring the squadron closer to its primary operational area in Egypt, it was relocated to Tel Nof at the end of 1957 and the following year received several new SO-4050 Vautours from the French manufacturer Sud-Ouest. In 1963, the 119 Squadron "Bat" was temporarily decommissioned and its jets transferred to squadrons at Ramat David.
In 1964, the 119 Squadron was reopened at Tel Nof with new French Dassault Mirage IIICJ Shahak fighter jets, which later flew over 300 missions in the Six-Day War, shooting down 23 enemy aircraft. In 1970, the Mirage jets were transferred to other squadrons and US-made F-4E Phantom II Kurnass strike fighter jets were acquired, which soon took part in the Yom Kippur War.

First cargo aircraft

At the beginning of the Palestine War in late 1947, ten Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo aircraft were purchased from the US Air Force inventory and eventually stationed at Ekron Airbase. They formed the backbone of the transport fleet of the newly founded Israeli Air Force and were consolidated in December 1948 with the formation of the 106 Squadron "Spearhead". During the war, these aircraft transported equipment and supplies to the troops and settlers in the Negev Desert in southern Israel and also carried out occasional bombing raids. Important landing sites for supply flights were the Ruhama Airfield 12 km southeast of Sderot and the Malhata Airfield 20 km east of Beersheba, today's Nevatim Airbase.
In March 1949, shortly before the end of the war, the cargo aircraft also took part in Operation Uvda, the securing of the southern Negev up to the Red Sea, as envisaged by the UN partition plan of 1947. For this purpose, the temporary Abraham Airfield was built far to the south, near today's Ovda Airbase. After the Palestine War, the aircraft were then used by El Al Israel Airlines or transferred to the 103 Squadron "Elephants". The 106 Squadron "Spearhead" was then shut down and reopened in June 1982 with F-15C/D jets on Tel Nof again.
With the 114 Squadron "Night Carriers", founded in 1966, and the 118 Squadron "Night Raptors", established in 1970 – both at Tel Nof – supplies and troop and casualty transports were now also carried out by heavy transport helicopters. The 114 Squadron initially flew the French Super Frelon Tzirʿa and later, together with the 118 Squadron, the US CH-53D Sea Stallion Yas'ur. See also: Yom Kippur War and Units.

Paratroopers Brigade

During the 1948 Palestine War there was a provisional paratroopers unit in Israel, which was expanded from the beginning of the 1950s into a regular Paratroopers Brigade, whose headquarters and training center are still located at Tel Nof to this day. Since then, this brigade has participated in many important operations in the wars over Israel, such as the Suez Crisis in the fall of 1956, when Israeli paratroopers occupied the strategically important Mitla Pass on the Sinai Peninsula. During the Six-Day War, they conquested the Old City of Jerusalem and were particularly remembered for capturing the Temple Mount with the Western Wall on 7 June 1967, in an iconic photo by David Rubinger.

Paratroopers Main Memorial

One and a half kilometers west of Tel Nof lies the Paratroopers Main Memorial near National Road , which commemorates those who fell in these units.

Middle East wars

Palestine War

During the 1948 Palestine War the airbase was handed over by the British and renamed Ekron Airbase by the IDF. First fighter aircraft were stationed. See above under: First Israeli fighter aircraft

Suez Crisis

During the Suez Crisis in the fall of 1956, Tel Nof was one of three main airbases of the IAF, along with Ramat David and Hatzor. From here, Israeli paratroopers took off to capture strategic targets on the Sinai Peninsula. See above under: Paratroopers Brigade

Six-Day War

As late as the Six-Day War in June 1967, French fighter jets manufactured by Dassault Aviation played a leading role in the IAF, such as the Mystère IV, the Super Mystère and the Mirage III. Many of these jets were also stationed at Tel Nof at that time. In the mid-1960s, Israel had commissioned Dassault to build an improved version of the Mirage III that was specifically tailored to the needs of the IAF, as they needed a ground attack aircraft in a desert environment. The first examples of this version, called the Mirage 5, were supposed to be delivered in 1967, but this never happened.
The French-built fighter jets – with the exception of the Mirage 5 – are now on display at the IAF Museum adjacent to Hatzerim Airbase:
In response to the Six-Day War, the delivery of 50 already produced and largely paid for Dassault Mirage 5 jets to Israel was stopped by French President Charles de Gaulle, as he no longer wanted to supply new offensive weapons to the former ally. After Israeli commando units blew up 14 Lebanese airliners at Beirut Airport on the evening of 28 December 1968 in Operation Gift – using French transport helicopters Super Frelon from Tel Nof and naval boats supplied by France – de Gaulle then imposed a total arms embargo on Israel.

War of Attrition

When Israel no longer received offensive weapons from France after the Six-Day War, it sought replacements from the United States, as the War of Attrition with Egypt, which began in mid-1968, required considerable resources. Over time, the US provided the IAF with over 250 heavy strike fighter jets of the new F-4E Phantom II Kurnass and RF-4E Orev, which were also stationed in a squadron at Tel Nof. In addition, they delivered around 350 light strike fighter jets A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit, of which many were based at Tel Nof also. At the beginning of the War of Attrition, the French Dassault Mystère IV and Dassault Mirage III jets could still be used, until their numbers gradually decreased over time due to a lack of spare parts or being shot down.

Yom Kippur War

Despite the French arms embargoes of 1967 and 1968 the Tel Nof Airbase had been steadily expanded over the years, and during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, seven air squadrons operated at the base. While the Six-Day War of 1967 was still characterized by French-made fighter aircraft, US ones now dominate.
The seven squadrons at Tel Nof during the Yom Kippur War:

119 Squadron "Bat" with F-4E Phantom II Kurnass heavy strike fighter jets
115 Squadron "Flying Dragon" with A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit light strike fighter jets
116 Squadron "Defenders Of The South" with A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit light strike fighter jets
118 Squadron "Night Raptors" with CH-53D Sea Stallion Yas'ur heavy transport helicopters
114 Squadron "Night Carriers" with Super Frelon Tzirʿa heavy transport helicopters
124 Squadron "Rolling Sword" with Bell 205/206 light general-purpose helicopters
103 Squadron "Elephants" with Nord Noratlas transport aircraft

The US-made airplanes of that time are now on display at the IAF Museum next to Hatzerim Airbase:
The total of twelve Super Frelon Tzirʿa transport helicopters that Israel had received from France before the embargo were stationed in the 114 Squadron "Night Carriers" at Tel Nof from 1966 to 1991 and were retrofitted with more powerful US engines until they were finally all decommissioned. The more than twenty French but German-built and delivered Nord Noratlas transport aircraft of the 103 Squadron "Elephants" at Tel Nof were in service there from 1956 to 1978. Most of them were former machines of the German Air Force or were built under license in Germany and handed over or delivered to Israel from the early 1960s.