Ramat David Airbase

Air base in Israel

Ramat David Airbase (, Basis Kheil HaAvir Ramat David, English: David Heights) is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base located 20 km southeast of Haifa in the Northern District of Israel, close to kibbutz Ramat David in the Jezreel Valley. It is the northernmost IAF base in Israel with fighter jets, UAVs and helicopters based on it.

In 1942, the RAF Ramat David military airfield was established by the Royal Air Force (RAF) under the British Mandate for Palestine. During the Second World War Jewish paratroopers trained here to serve in RAF special operations commandos and to drop behind enemy lines in German or German occupied territory. They were supposed to help bring downed Allied airmen safely back and help Jews hide from the Nazis. Several of them died (see memorial stone in the gallery below). After the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948 and the start of the First Arab–Israeli War the next day, the base was temporarily maintained by the RAF to cover the withdrawal of British forces from Palestine. On 22 May 1948, the Royal Egyptian Air Force attacked the base, mistakenly believing it was now an Israeli controlled airbase. In a series of three attacks, several aircraft were destroyed or damaged, a hangar was destroyed, and four British airmen were killed. Five Egyptian fighter planes were shot down. A short time later the base was taken over by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Over time, it became the main base of IAF operations north of Israel in Syria and Lebanon. The future Israeli President Ezer Weizman (1924–2005) was a base commander here in the 1950s before he finally took over command of the IAF. In 2011 the base or Wing 1 there was named after him.

The 117 Squadron "First Jet" was inaugurated on 17 June 1953 as the IAF's first fighter jet squadron with British Gloster Meteor at Ramat David. In 1962 these were replaced by French Dassault Mirage III Shahak, which then took part in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. In 1980, together with the 110 Squadron, they received the first F 16A/B Netz fighter jets from the USA. In June 1981, four jets from 117 Squadron took part in Operation Opera, the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor Osirak near Baghdad. From 1986/87 these were then replaced by the IAF's first F 16C/D Barak, which remained until the squadron was closed in 2020
The 109 Squadron “The Valley” was founded in 1951 under a different name at Tel Nof Airbase and moved to Ramat David in 1956, where it still exists today. It got its name “The Valley” after the Jezreel Valley where the base is located. On Ramat David it flew the Dassault Mystère IV, A 4 Skyhawk Ayit, IAI Kfir (Young Lion) and finally from 1991 to the present day the two seat F 16D Barak. The 110 Squadron “Knights Of The North” existed from 1953 to 2017 (from 1957 on Ramat David) and flew the De Havilland Mosquito, S. O. 4050 Vautour II, Gloster Meteor, A 4 Skyhawk Ayit, F 16A/B Netz, F 16C/D Barak and also took part in the destruction of the Iraqi reactor in 1981.

The fighter jets are housed in a large underground hangar system into which they disappear after each landing and which has several entrances and exits. This protects them from missiles and at the same time hides them from view and precise localization. Syria and Lebanon are only 50 to 60 km away, from where rockets are repeatedly fired at northern Israel. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, this airbase was the only one where rockets hit and not only destroyed facilities but also caused casualties.

At the beginning of October 2020, as part of an IAF efficiency program, the 117 Squadron "First Jet" with F 16 fighter jets on Ramat David was disbanded and most of the jets and pilots were assigned to other units. It was involved in all of the country's wars since 1953 and, among other things, also involved in Operation Opera, the destruction of an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. In July 2021, the squadron reopened at Nevatim Airbase with new F 35I Adir jets. In March 2021, the two F 16 Squadrons 101 "First Fighter" and 105 "Scorpion" were relocated here from Hatzor Airbase to bring all remaining F 16C/D Barak jets under one roof. A few other F 16C/D jets are based at Ovda in the Aggressor Training Squadron "Flying Dragon". Three squadrons with the newer F 16I Sufa, adapted to Israeli needs, are based at Ramon Airbase, as well as a fourth squadron of them at Hatzerim Airbase.

The Eurocopter AS565 Panther Atalef of the 193 Squadron "Defenders Of The West" on Ramat David serve as maritime reconnaissance, surveillance and SAR helicopters and are used in close cooperation with the Israeli Navy as on board helicopters on ships of the Sa'ar 5 class corvette and Sa'ar 6 class corvette. These have their home port in the Haifa naval base, 25 km away. In early January 2022, an AS 565 Panther Atalef crashed off the coast of Haifa, killing two crew members and seriously injuring another. In the future, the Panthers will be replaced by eight SH 60 Seahawk, which were already purchased by the IAF and Navy in 2015 from stocks of the US Navy. They will be extensively converted and equipped with Israeli systems and should be ready for use from 2024. The Nevatim Airbase in the south of Israel is now also being discussed, which could be used for both military and civilian purposes, as was previously the case with the Ovda Airbase for over 30 years. The IAF is strongly opposed to this latter proposal. In the meantime, the civilian conversion of Ramat David seemed to be off the table, because the local resistance to it is too strong. In 2021, the government's policy was to build two medium sized international airports at both Haifa in the north and Be'er Sheva in the south. However, after the presentation of an extensive study and audit in 2023, Ramat David is again the top priority for a major airport.