IAF Ramat David Airbase

Israel / Hazafon / Ramat Yishay /
 military airbase, military, Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Ramat David Israeli Air Force Base (ICAO: LLRD) is one of three principal airbases of the Israeli Air Force and is located southeast of Haifa, close to kibbutz Ramat David and Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. It was originally built as a Royal Air Force station in 1942 under the British Mandate and was known as RAF Ramat David.

On 26 May 1948 it was handed over to the newly created Israel Defense Forces and currently houses 3 F-16 C/D squadrons and a Hughes 500MD squadron. Ramat David is home to the 117th "Hasilon Harishona" ("First Jet") squadron, formed on June 7, 1953. It operated Israel's first jet aircraft, the Gloster Meteor, flying the T7, F8 and FR9 variants.

Roald Dahl, in his World War two autobiography 'Going Solo', mentions landing his RAF Hawker Hurricane at Ramat David in 1941. At the time it was a hastily prepared grass airstrip rolled out in a cornfield by the residents of the Kibbutz nearby. In 2010, the airbase was the second-largest unit in the IDF with over 1,100 soldiers.

Order of Battle

109 Squadron (Valleyl) - operates F-16D

110 Squadron (Knights of the North) - operates F-16C

117 Squadron (First Jet) - operates F-16C

193 Squadron (Defenders of the West) - operates AS-565

www.iaf.org.il/2570-30208-en/IAF.aspx
www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/ramat_davi...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramat_David_Israeli_Air_Force_Base
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   32°39'56"N   35°10'48"E

Comments

  • I flew into Ramat David during the War of 1973 in a USAF C141
This article was last modified 11 years ago