| Tel Nof Israeli Air Force Base Air Force Base 8 | |
| Native Name: | Hebrew: בסיס חיל-האוויר תל נוף |
| Location: | Rehovot, Central District |
| Country: | Israel |
| Type: | Airbase |
| Pushpin Map: | Israel center ta#Israel |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Shown within Israel |
| Pushpin Label: | Tel Nof Airbase |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Ownership: | Israel Defense Forces |
| Operator: | Israeli Air Force |
| Built: | 1939 RAF / 1948 IAF |
| Used: | 1939 - present |
| Icao: | LLEK |
| Elevation: | 59m (194feet) |
| R1-Number: | 15R/33L |
| R1-Length: | 2388m (7,835feet) |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R2-Number: | 15L/33R |
| R2-Length: | 2387m (7,831feet) |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R3-Number: | 18/36 |
| R3-Length: | 2750m (9,020feet) |
| R3-Surface: | Asphalt |
| R4-Number: | 09/27 |
| R4-Length: | 1830m (6,000feet) |
| R4-Surface: | Asphalt |
Tel Nof Airbase (Hebrew: 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.
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:
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).
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.[1]
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.
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:
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.
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: 31.8479°N 34.8146°W) and on the neighboring Sdot Micha Airbase in bunkers (presumably here: 31.7558°N 34.9176°W) near the positions of Jericho missiles.[2] [3] [4] [5] 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.
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).[6]
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").
Since January 2019, the so-called "Red Baron" Squadron has been operating on Tel Nof to train Israeli and 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.[7]
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").[8]
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").[9] [10] [11] [12]
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.[13] [14]
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.[15] According to unofficial sources, these drones are also capable of attacking targets on the ground using guided weapons.
Note: IAF aircraft can usually be assigned to their squadron by the symbols on the tail