5601 Squadron, also known as Manat ( he, מנ"ט, an acronym for ''Merkaz Nisu'ey Tisa'', he, מרכז ניסויי טיסה, lit. ''Flight Test Center''), is 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 Defense ...
unit responsible for flight and weapons testing, airframe modification and avionics integration.
Although formed in 1978, Manat may have its origins in a flight test unit established as early as March 1950.
Based at
Tel Nof, Manat comprises a flight section, including test pilots and flight testing engineers, a technical section charged with aircraft maintenance, an avionics section, and a UAV section operating from
Palmachim. The squadron operates a fully instrumented example of every Israeli Air Force frontline combat aircraft type on strength at any time.
It also operates a number of UAVs and will utilize helicopter and transport types from other squadrons when necessary.
Among the aircraft currently operated by Manat are three
F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...
s, representing the different variants of the aircraft in service: F-16D Block 30 #020, F-16D Block 40 #601 and
F-16I Block 52+ #401.
F-16D #601, designated CK-1, was designed by
Lockheed to meet specific flight test requirements.
Another aircraft operated by the squadron is
F-15I #201 (94-0286), the very first F-15I built.
Manat has also participated in the evaluation of foreign aircraft types, including the Syrian
MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-gener ...
whose pilot defected to Israel in October 1989 and a pair of
MiG-29s loaned from a European air force in 1995. During its stay in Israel, one of the MiG-29s even carried the squadron emblem.
The squadron works closely with Israel's defence industries and participates in product testing. Among the projects the squadron was involved with are the various
Python missiles, the
Popeye II, and the
Rafael Spice.
[Weiss and Koren, p. 85.]
See also
*
List of aerospace flight test centres
*
Shimshon Rozen
External links
Flight Test Center photo gallery by Nir Ben-Yosef
References
{{Israeli Air Force Squadrons
Israeli Air Force squadrons