The Al-Safran Air Base (, alternatively called Liwa) is a

military air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

operated by the

United Arab Emirates Air Force The United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) () is the air force of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), part of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. Its predecessor was established in 1968, when the Emirates were still under British rule. Since then, ...

, located approximately 80 miles southwest of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, near

Madinat Zayed ''Madīnat Zāyid'' () is the largest city and the administrative centre of Al Dhafra, the westernmost and largest region in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The township was established in 1968 by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late Ruler of ...

History

Construction of the base cost an estimated $1 billion. Construction was carried out by Alnaboodah Construction Group A

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French ...

squadron was moved to the base in 2007, and it was completed in approximately 2008. The base underwent an expansion of its

airport apron The airport apron, apron, flight line, or ramp is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it ...

in 2017, the same year it added six new aircraft shelters.

Description

The base has one runway, hardened aircraft shelters, and a subterranean

ammunition dump {{Commons cat Logistics Logistics logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (ec ...

. The bases houses two ground control stations. The base is defended by the

Super aEgis II A sentry gun is a weapon that automatically aims and fires at targets that are detected by sensors. The earliest functioning military sentry guns were the close-in weapon systems point-defense weapons, such as the Phalanx CIWS, used for detect ...

sentry gun A sentry gun is a weapon that automatically aims and fires at targets that are detected by sensors. The earliest functioning military sentry guns were the close-in weapon systems point-defense weapons, such as the Phalanx CIWS, used for detect ...

References

{{Airports in the United Arab Emirates Airports established in 2008 United Arab Emirates Air Force bases