Al Jufra Airbase is a

Libyan Air Force The Libyan Air Force () is the branch of the Libyan Armed Forces responsible for aerial warfare. In 2010, before the Libyan Civil War, the Libyan Air Force personnel strength was estimated at 18,000, with an inventory of 374 combat-capable ai ...

base in Waddan, northeast of

Hun A Hun is a member of the Huns, a confederation of nomadic tribes in Western Asia and Europe in late antiquity. Hun or huns may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Hun, a British subcultural stereotype, see Hun subculture * Hun, a charac ...

, a desert city in the

Jufra District Jufra or Jofra () is one of the districts of Libya. It is in the centre of the country. Its capital is Hun. Jufra was originally one of the 25 baladiya in the administrative system of Libya established in 1988. In 2001, it became a ''Shabiya'', ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. It was originally used by the Libyan Arab Air Force during the Gaddafi-era from 1969 to 2011. The runway length does not include paved overruns on each end. The Hon

non-directional beacon A non-directional beacon (NDB) or non-directional radio beacon is a radio beacon which does not include directional information. Radio beacons are radio transmitters at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. NDB are i ...

(Ident: HON) is located southwest of the airport.

History

Prior to the

First Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

, during the 1980s, the No. 1025 Squadron operated Mig-25PDs at the Al Jufra-Hun Airbase for defense of the north coast.

TU-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( Air Standardization Coordinating Committee name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Nava ...

, G.222, and

An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...

were based at Jufra, parked on open pavement, sand berm shielded pads, and in aircraft shelters. Considering the positioning of many of the aircraft visible in the satellite imagery, and what is known of the maintenance record of the

, the operational inventory of combat aircraft based at Jufra in 2011 can be assumed to be quite low. The G.222 is believed to have not flown for more than a decade.

No-Fly Zone enforcement

The airbase was bombed on 24 March 2011 by French aircraft, in accordance with the UN-backed enforcement of the No-Fly Zone over Libya. Over two and a half months later, on 13 June, the area was again struck by NATO forces.Strike on Libyan airbase
''Irish Times''

References

External links

OurAirports - Al Jufrah Airport
Airports in Libya Military installations of Libya Libyan Air Force bases {{Libya-airport-stub

History

No-Fly Zone enforcement

See also

References

External links