Ramat David Israeli Air Force Base (, he, בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִיר רָמַת דָּוִד ''Basis Kheil HaAvir Ramat David'') is one of three principal airbases of the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

, located southeast of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, close to

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Ramat David and Megiddo in the

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...

. It was originally built as a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

station in 1942 under the British Mandate when it was known as RAF Ramat David. In 2014, it was reported to be the most likely location for a new International airport to complement

Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...

History

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

, in his World War II autobiography '

Going Solo ''Going Solo'' is a book by Roald Dahl, first published by Jonathan Cape in London in 1986. It is a continuation of his autobiography describing his childhood, ''Boy'' and detailed his travel to Africa and exploits as a World War II pilot. Plot ...

', mentions landing his RAF

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

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 nearby

RAF Ramat David

RAF Ramat David was a

station in the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

between 1942 and 1948, located approximately 4 km south of Ramat Yishay (Northern District); 80 km north-northeast of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. Royal Air Force operational units at RAF Ramat David: * No. 6 Squadron RAF *

No. 32 Squadron RAF Number 32 (The Royal) Squadron (sometimes abbreviated as No. 32 (TR) Squadron) of the Royal Air Force operates in the VIP and general air transport roles from RAF Northolt in Greater London. Originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Fl ...

* No. 37 Squadron RAF * No. 46 Squadron RAF * No. 74 Squadron RAF *

No. 127 Squadron RAF No. 127 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the United Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. History It was first formed as a day bomber unit in February 1918, but was disbanded on 4 July of that year without seeing service. From 29 J ...

No. 154 Squadron RAF No. 154 (Motor Industries) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron formed as a fighter unit in the Second World War. History Formation and World War I No. 154 Squadron Royal Air Force was formed on 7 August 1918, but was disbanded on 11 Septem ...

* No. 208 Squadron RAF * No. 213 Squadron RAF *

No. 216 Squadron RAF Number 216 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, since reforming on 1 April 2020 and is tasked with testing future drone swarm technology. It had previously operated Lockheed TriStar K1, KC1 and C ...

No. 232 Squadron RAF No. 232 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was active in both World War I and World War II in a variety of roles, having seen action as an anti-submarine patrol, fighter and transport squadron. History In World War I The squadron was formed on 20 A ...

No. 242 Squadron RAF ("Always ready") , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= Battle of Britain, Invasion of Sicily, Berlin Airlift , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= , commander1= , commander1_label= , co ...

No. 243 Squadron RAF No. 243 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. Originally formed in August 1918 from two flights that had been part of the Royal Naval Air Service, the squadron conducted anti-submarine patrols during the final stages of World War ...

* No. 249 Squadron RAF * No. 294 Squadron RAF *

No. 459 Squadron RAAF No. 459 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force squadron that operated during World War II. It was formed in early 1942 and served as a maritime patrol and bomber unit in the Mediterranean theatre until early 1945, operating mainly Lock ...

No. 651 Squadron RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

After the

Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executiv ...

and the start of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...

, the base was temporarily maintained by the RAF to cover the withdrawal of British forces from Palestine. On 22 May, the

Royal Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all milit ...

attacked the base, mistakenly believing it was an Israeli airbase. In a series of three attacks, several aircraft were destroyed or damaged, a hangar was destroyed, and four airmen were killed. Five Egyptian fighter planes were shot down.IAF v RAF
- Spyflight.co.uk

Israeli Air Force Base Ramat David

On 26 May 1948 the base was handed over to the newly created

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. Ramat David currently houses two F-16 C/D squadrons, including 117 "First Jet" squadron, formed on 7 June 1953, and a Eurocopter AS565 Panther squadron. In 2010, the airbase was the second-largest unit in the IDF with over 1,100 soldiers.

Israeli Air Force Units

* 101 Squadron (Israel) F-16C/D ("First Fighter") *

105 Squadron (Israel) The 105 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as The Scorpion, was founded in December 1950 as a Spitfire squadron and has since operated the P-51 Mustang, Dassault Super Mystere, IAI Sa'ar, and F-4 Phantom II. It currently operates F-16 ...

F-16C/D ("Scorpion") *

109 Squadron (Israel) The 109 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as The Valley Squadron, began operating the De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI and PR Mk XVI in July 1951. It currently operates F-16D fighters out of Ramat David Airbase. See also *Operation R ...

F-16D ("Valley") *

193 Squadron (Israel) The 193 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), also known as the Maritime Helicopters Squadron and operates on behalf of the Israeli Navy. Established in June 1987 as a new squadron flying the Eurocopter HH-65A Dolphin from Palmachim Airbase. ...

AS-565 ("Defenders Of The West")

References

Bibliography

* Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. ''RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. .

External links

Ramat David from globalsecurity.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramat David Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations established in 1948 Israeli Air Force bases World War II airfields in Mandatory Palestine