Tel Nof Airbase

Tel Nof Airbase (בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר תֵּל נוֹף, English: Lookout hill), also known as Air Force Base 8, is the oldest and main base of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) located 5 km south of Rehovot, Israel. Tel Nof houses two strike fighter, two helicopter and a UAV squadron. Also located on the base are the Flight Test Center and several special units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), among others Unit 669 (heliborne Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR)) and the Paratroopers Brigade training center and its headquarters.

History
Established in July 1939 as RAF Aqir during the British Mandate, it served as the main base for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Palestine. It was named after the Palestinian village Aqir north of it that perished in the 1948 Palestine war and was located in the area of today's Kiryat Ekron.

Operational units from 1941 to 1948: • No. 6 Squadron between 17 and 24 February 1941 with the Westland Lysander

• No. 10 Squadron detachment (1942) Handley Page Halifax

• No. 11 Squadron (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 32 Squadron (1946) Supermarine Spitfire IX

• No. 37 Squadron (1945) Consolidated Liberator VI

• No. 45 Squadron (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 55 Squadron (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 70 Squadron (1945) Consolidated Liberator VI

• No. 80 Squadron (1941) Hawker Hurricane I

• No. 84 Squadron (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 113 Squadron (1946–1947) Handley Page Halifax

• No. 159 Squadron (1942) Consolidated Liberator II

• No. 160 Squadron (1942) Consolidated Liberator II

• No. 162 Squadron (1942) Vickers Wellington later Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 208 Squadron (1941) Hawker Audax and (1946) Supermarine Spitfire VIII

• No. 211 Squadron (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV

• No. 215 Squadron (1947) Douglas Dakota I

• No. 221 Squadron detachment (1945) Vickers Wellington XII

• No. 227 Squadron (1942) Handley Page Halifax

• No. 250 Squadron (1941) Curtiss Tomahawk IIB

• No. 294 Squadron detachment (1944) Vickers Wellington IC

• No. 335 (Greek) Squadron (1941) Hawker Hurricane I

• No. 450 Squadron RAAF (1941) Hawker Hurricane I

• No. 620 Squadron (1946) Douglas Dakota and Handley Page Halifax

• No. 621 Squadron (1946) Avro Lancaster ASR.III

• No. 680 Squadron detachment (1945) Fairchild Argus

• No. 76 Operational Training Unit Vickers Wellington - Formed at RAF Aqir on 1 October 1943, equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk.IIIs and Xs to train night bomber crews for squadrons in the Middle East, disbanding on 30 July 1945. 76 OTU, despite operating Wellingtons, were also working up crews for B-24 Liberators. After completion of their course those crews were passed on to Liberator conversion units.

After the British withdrew in 1948, the base was named Ekron Airbase after this Israeli village and, from 1950, Tel Nof Airbase (English: Lookout hill). 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" (English: Spring hill).

First fighter aircraft
On 29 May 1948, the first four fighter aircraft Avia S-199 of the first aircraft squadron 101 "First Fighter" of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) took off from here for their first mission, an attack on the Ad Halom Bridge on the eastern outskirts of Ashdod, which was in the hands of Egyptian troops. Important was less the modest military success of this operation than the shock to the Egyptian soldiers when they saw with their own eyes that Israel now had an Air Force.

On 17 August 1948, Tel Nof Airbase was officially and ceremoniously opened. Hatzor Airbase and Ramat David Airbase taken over by the British soon followed. The IAF Flight Academy was initially set up in Tel Nof until it was moved to the newly built Hatzerim Airbase in 1966.

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 is still located on Tel Nof to this day. This brigade and its units has since been involved in many important operations in Israel's wars, such as: the Suez Crisis and the Six-Day War, where the conquest of the Old City of Jerusalem with the capture of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall by Israeli paratroopers was particularly remembered. One and a half kilometers west of Tel Nof is the main Paratroopers Memorial on Road 40, which commemorates those who fell in these units.

Yom Kippur War
Tel Nof Airbase has 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 1967 was still characterized by French-made fighter aircraft, US ones now dominate:
 * 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 "Flying Wing/Defenders Of The South" with A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit
 * 118 Squadron "Night Riders" with CH-53D Sea Stallion Yas'ur heavy transport helicopters
 * 114 Squadron "Night Leaders" with Super Frelon medium transport helicopters
 * 124 Squadron "Rolling Sword" with Bell 205 light general-purpose helicopters
 * 103 Squadron "Elephants" with Nord Noratlas transport aircraft

Arrival of the F-15
From 1976, the then new F-15A/B Eagle Baz fighter jets were introduced with 133 Squadron "Knights Of The Twin Tail", which made Israel the first country in the world outside the United States to possess this aircraft. Because the landing of the first three planes was delayed on that Friday, 10 December 1976, the reception ceremony was also delayed and only ended shortly before the beginning of Shabbat. As a result, some government ministers didn't have enough time to return home before the start of Shabbat. Its "desecration" led to a government crisis and ultimately to the collapse of the coalition of the first government of Yitzhak Rabin.

Nuclear weapons
It is assumed that Israel is in possession of nuclear weapons since the late 1960s and that they are stored at some point on Tel Nof in a specially secured area (presumably here: 31.84789°N, 34.81461°W) and on the neighboring Sdot Micha Airbase in bunkers (presumably here: 31.75578°N, 34.91757°W) near the positions of Jericho missiles. Fighter aircraft that can carry such weapons over long distances, like the F-15 Eagle (see gallery below) and once the F-4E Phantom II (see picture above) have been on alert around the clock at the base since the 1970s. This form of deterrence was one of the lessons that Israel learned from the Yom Kippur War in 1973, even though the country has not yet admitted that it has nuclear weapons.

Operation Wooden Leg
On 1 October 1985, under the name Operation Wooden Leg, ten two-seat F-15B/D Eagle Baz from Tel Nof (two of them in reserve) attacked the headquarters of the PLO near Tunis. On their 2,300 km long flight to the destination on the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia the F-15s were refueled several times by two Boeing 707 Re'em. The headquarters were completely destroyed and - depending on the source - 50 to 75 PLO fighters were killed, including many leaders, but not Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The action was condemned without dissent in the UNO, and the USA also criticized it because it strained its relationship with Tunisia. The eight F-15 jets from Tel Nof involved received a corresponding symbol (target cross in the red circle with a wooden leg, see picture in the gallery below).

Today
Today (2024), Tel Nof is home to two strike fighter jet and two transport helicopter squadrons as well as a drone squadron. Also located there is the IAF headquarters and the Flight Test Center with one example of all aircraft variants (see F-15I Eagle Ra'am in the gallery above and F-35I Adir in the gallery under "Units").

Current
Since January 2019, the so-called "Red Baron" Squadron has been operating on Tel Nof to train German soldiers on the IAI Eitan (Heron TP) UAV. IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) has built its own version of this UAV for the German Air Force, whose crews are now being trained by Israeli soldiers and technicians. This unit is the only non-fully Israeli squadron within the IAF.

In November 2020, a brand-new F-35I Adir from the USA landed directly on Tel Nov. This specially equipped machine will serve as a test platform at the local Flight Test Center for further improvement of this stealth jet (see gallery under "Units").

At the end of 2021, Israel ordered twelve new CH-53K King Stallion Wild transport helicopters from the US for two billion dollars, which will complement the CH-53D Sea Stallion Yas'ur on Tel Nof in the next few years. In July 2023, the 114 Squadron "Night Leaders" was temporarily closed and merged with the 118 Squadron "Night Riders". The former will reopen in the future and accommodate the new CH-53K King Stallion as they arrive from the United States (see gallery under "Units").

The aging F-15C/D Eagle Baz fighter jets on Tel Nof will be replaced in the medium term by new F-15IA (Israel Advanced), which are based on the F-15EX Eagle II. 25 new jets for a complete squadron have already been ordered (but still need US approval), which will not be delivered until 2028 at the earliest, and 25 more aircraft are to be added at some point. These new, powerful strike fighter jets would be needed to carry heavy bunker-busting bombs that could then be used against Iran's underground nuclear facilities.

During the Gaza War 2023/24, drones of the type IAI Eitan (Heron TP) from Tel Nof are 24 hours a day in the air over Gaza to provide the IDF with target data for its attacks against positions of the terrorist militia Hamas. According to unofficial sources, these drones are also capable of attacking targets on the ground using guided weapons.

Units

 * 106 Squadron "Edge Of The Spear" – operating F-15C/D Eagle Baz
 * 114 Squadron "Night Leaders" – temporarily closed until new CH-53K King Stallion Wild arrive from the US
 * 118 Squadron "Night Riders" – operating CH-53D Sea Stallion Yas'ur
 * 133 Squadron "Knights Of The Twin Tail" – operating F-15C/D Eagle Baz
 * 210 Squadron "White Eagle" – operating IAI Eitan UAVs
 * 5601 Squadron "Flight Test Center" Manat – operating examples of all IAF aircraft
 * Unit 555 "Sky Ravens" – Electronic Warfare EW
 * Unit 669 "Flying Cats" – heliborne Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) (at Palmachim also)
 * Unit 888 "Refaim" – combined special operations task force
 * Paratroopers Brigade Training Center
 * "Red Baron" Squadron – to train German and Israeli crews on the Heron TP Eitan UAV

Note: IAF aircraft can usually be assigned to their squadron by the symbols on the tail

Accidents

 * In May 1983, an F-15D Eagle Baz from Tel Nov and an A-4 Skyhawk Ayit collided in mid-air during an exercise over the Negev desert in southern Israel. While the A-4 pilot ejected, the two-seat F-15D managed to land safely at nearby Ramon Airbase, despite having its right wing almost completely torn off in the collision. This was only possible because the F-15 pilot turned on the afterburners, compensating for the lack of lift. The landing took place at about twice the normal speed, and the jet only came to a stop shortly before the end of the runway. The aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas was so impressed by what was happening that it sent over a new right wing free of charge. The aircraft with the number 957 was repaired and put back into service (see photo on the right).


 * On 4 February 1997, two CH-53 Sea Stallion Ya'sur helicopters of 118 Squadron "Night Riders" from Tel Nof collided over northern Israel while they were carrying soldiers into the Israeli security zone in Southern Lebanon. Both planes crashed, killing all 73 people on board - all male military personnel. The two crash sites were located in the Moshav She'ar Yashuv (Today's memorial: 33.22298°N, 35.64114°W) and in an open field near the Kibbutz Dafna. The crash, which represents the worst Israeli aviation disaster to date, sparked nationwide mourning and is considered one of the main reasons for Israel's decision to withdraw from Southern Lebanon in 2000.


 * On 26 July 2010, a CH-53 helicopter of 118 Squadron from Tel Nof crashed near the town of Brașov in Romania during a Romanian-Israeli military exercise in the Carpathian Mountains. All seven passengers died: four Israeli pilots, two Israeli mechanics and a Romanian liaison officer. An investigation determined that the crash was most likely due to human error.