Ramon Israeli Air Force Base Air Wing 25 | |||||||||
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בסיס חיל-האוויר רמון | |||||||||
Mitzpe Ramon, Southern District in Israel | |||||||||
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Coordinates | 30°46′29″N 034°40′04″E / 30.77472°N 34.66778°E | ||||||||
Type | Airbase | ||||||||
Site information | |||||||||
Owner | Israel Defense Forces | ||||||||
Operator | Israeli Air Force | ||||||||
Site history | |||||||||
Built | 1979 | -82||||||||
Built by | US companies | ||||||||
In use | 1982 - present | ||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||
Identifiers | ICAO: LLRM | ||||||||
Elevation | 648 metres (2,126 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
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Ramon Airbase (Hebrew: בסיס חיל-האוויר רמון (ICAO: LLRM), Basis Hayil-HaAvir Ramon, lit. Ramon Air Force Base) is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base in the Negev desert, 50 km south of Beersheba and 20 km northwest of the town Mitzpe Ramon. The base and the town got their names from the huge "erosion crater" Makhtesh Ramon south of it. The base is also titled Kanaf 25 (Hebrew: כנף 25, lit. Wing 25), it was formerly known as Matred.
The Ramon Airbase was built as the result of joint Israeli and US government funding as part of the IAF's redeployment out of its bases Eitam, Etzion, Ofira and Refidim[1] in the Sinai after the peninsula was handed over to Egypt following the 1978 Camp David Accords. It was constructed from 1979 to 1982 by US companies together with the bases Nevatim and Ovda.[2]
After its completion, it took over some of the aircraft stationed at the four Sinai bases, on the one hand A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit light strike fighters and on the other hand F-16A/B Netz fighter jets.[3][4]
In September 1990, the first AH-64A Apache Peten attack helicopters arrived at Ramon, joined in 2005 by the improved AH-64D Apache Longbow Saraf. They were absorbed by 113 Squadron "Hornet" and 190 Squadron "Magic Touch" (see also "Units").[5][6]
In January 2005, the 119 Squadron "Bat" at Ramon was the first to fly the new F-16I Sufa jet adapted to Israeli needs. Shortly afterwards, the 253 Squadron "Negev" and the 201 Squadron "The One" there were also equipped with F-16I jets (see also "Units").[7][4][3]
On 6 September 2007, in Operation Outside the Box, four F-15I Ra'am of the "Hammers" Squadron from Hatzerim Airbase and four F-16Is from Ramon attacked an almost completed nuclear reactor in Syria and destroyed it in order to prevent Syria from building its own nuclear bombs (see gallery directly below).[8]
On 13 April, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran fired large numbers of missiles and drones into Israel in response[9] to Israel's strike against the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Iranian state-run media outlets reported that Ramon Airbase was struck by seven missiles.[10] An IDF spokesperson confirmed only that a military base in southern Israel was slightly damaged.
Currently (as of 2024), in addition to the three F-16I Sufa squadrons, two squadrons of AH-64A/D Apache (Longbow) Peten/Saraf attack helicopters are based here, the only ones in Israel.[11][12]
For many years there have been considerations of purchasing new AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters from Boeing, but this has so far failed due to the costs.[13][14]
Note: IAF aircraft can usually be assigned to their squadron by the symbols on the tail