The 131 Squadron of the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

, also known as the Knights of the Yellow Bird, is a C-130E and KC-130H squadron based at

Nevatim Airbase Nevatim Airbase (, English: sprouts) , also Air Force Base 28, is an Israeli Air Force, Israeli Air Force (IAF) base, located 15 km east-southeast of Beersheba, near moshav Nevatim in the northern Negev desert. It is one of the largest in ...

History

The squadron was established during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

, on 14 October 1973 at Lod Airbase, following the receipt of 12

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

("Rhinoceros") aircraft, which were removed from the order of the forces of the American Air Force and handed over to the

as military aid. The aforementioned 12 aircraft joined two "Rhinoceros" operated before the war by Squadron 120 ("the International Squadron") of the Air Force. The squadron's first commander was Lt. Col. David Porat. The rhinoceros immediately entered the fighting circle. In the first phase, they carried out an "aerial train" to transfer APCs to Sinai. The flight began on the night of 15 October and ended on the morning of 16 October. The teams performed 26 sorties in a short period of time, including the tasks of transporting personnel and equipment, and evacuating casualties . On 25 November 1975, during a cooperation exercise with the infantry force, Rhino No. 203 hit the peak of Jebel Hilal in Sinai, loaded with an APC, 11 fighters and 9 crew members. All its passengers and crew perished. In July 1976, four Hercules aircraft of the squadron participated in the

Operation Entebbe The Entebbe raid, also known as the Operation Entebbe and officially codenamed Operation Thunderbolt (also retroactively codenamed Operation Yonatan), was a 1976 Israeli counter-terrorist mission in Uganda. It was launched in response to th ...

. The aircraft structure was led by the squadron commander, Lt. Col. Yehoshua Shani. From 1982, the squadron participated in secret operations to evacuate Ethiopian Jews from Sudan . Due to an earthquake on 7 December 1988 in Armenia, the Israeli government decided to provide humanitarian aid to the earthquake victims. The two rhinoceros squadrons were launched to assist in the delivery of rescue and medical teams. On 16 April 1991, a Rhino took off with a joint team from Squadron 131 and Squadron 103 ("Elephant Squadron") to

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

, Turkey, with a shipment including medical equipment for the Kurdish refugees in the belly of the plane . On 24-25 May 1991, the squadron participated in

Operation Solomon Operation Solomon (, Mivtza Shlomo) was a covert Israeli military operation from May 24 to 25, 1991, to airlift Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, tran ...

to bring Ethiopian Jewry to Israel. During the operation, in which the IDF's heavy transport squadrons and the national airline " El Al " took part, approximately 14,500 immigrants were brought to Israel. In 9 sorties carried out by the squadron, 1,482 immigrants were brought. One of the squadron's Rhinos had to take off from the field in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

with only three engines, due to an engine failure that occurred during the first takeoff attempt. Another humanitarian operation that the squadron participated in was flying medical aid and food to refugees on the Rwanda - Zaire border, between July 24 and September 2, 1994, following the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

committed by the

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

against the

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. As part of the operation, the Rhino squadrons flew 16 sorties during which 160 tons of cargo were flown. On 25 August 2008, the squadron moved to the

in the Negev. On 18 July 2012, the squadron was launched to rescue the Israeli wounded after the attack in Burgas, Bulgaria . In August 2013, the squadron received the flight crews and aircraft of the Elephant Squadron, after it was temporarily abolished. In 2015, the IDF, in cooperation with the

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI; ), is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 14,000 employees as of 2021. IAI is state-owned by the government ...

, began upgrading the " Rhinoceros " aircraft to an improved model: " Rhinoceros Aviation ". The improvement includes a new cockpit, improved engines were installed, advanced command and control systems were added, and an elite helmet display was added, the systems with the special capabilities were upgraded and other systems were replaced, including the navigation system and the autopilot During the April 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel, a

of the squadron was damaged while parked in a hangar.

Sources

References

Israeli Air Force squadrons {{Israel-mil-stub