Nevatim
31°12'N 35°00'E
Nevatim Airbase (English: sprouts) (IATA: VTM, ICAO: LLNV), also Air Force Base 28, is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base, located 15 km east-southeast of Beersheba, near moshav Nevatim in the Negev desert.
This is a huge base, the most important of the Air Force. It is the home of the "Zion Wing", and also of the F-35 squadrons. In the past they thought of closing it, but then it absorbed a whole base. At the base located east of Beer Sheva, there are squadrons of F-35 aircraft (Adir) as well as transport squadrons, among others of Super-Hercules (Samson) and Hercules (Rhinoceros) aircraft. It is also the home of the "Zion Wing", known as the "Prime Minister's Plane", which took off with the start of the Iranian attack.
Many missiles did indeed successfully penetrate the Israeli air defenses, however, despite the victorious reports of the Iranian media about the destruction of dozens of F-35 fighters and armored vehicles, there was initially no objective data on the destruction of important strategic IDF facilities or even on the number of dead or injured people. Israel's response rhetoric and its real actions, , most likely will also be extremely limited due to the lack of serious damage after the Iranian strike.
It should be noted that according to the Revolutionary Guards, more than 400 missiles were launched. According to the Iranian news agency Shafaqna, over 20 Israeli F-35 fighter jets were destroyed in the Iranian attack. One initial damage assessment claimed that Israel’s Nevatim Air Base was so badly damaged by Iran’s missiles that it was now inoperable. At least 20 F-35 fighter jets are confirmed damaged or destroyed, as well as tanks, gas platforms, vehicle repair stations, and hangars. The narrative that the Iranian attack was a success is taking hold in the Arab world. There are celebrations all over the Middle East. This has strengthened the flagging morale of the Iranian regime.
New satellite images of a key Israeli military air base appear to show a large hole in the roof of an aircraft hangar, indicating damage caused by a missile fired by Iran Tuesday in its massive barrage on Israel. Images of the Nevatim air base in southern Israel 02 October 2024 show the damage to the roof in a row of buildings near a runway. Large pieces of debris can be seen spread around the building. The military censorship cleared the Planetlabs image for publication. The Israeli military on Wednesday acknowledged that some of its airbases were hit in Iran’s attack, but the damage was deemed “ineffective,” meaning that no harm was caused to the continuous operations of the Israeli Air Force. The missile impacts damaged office buildings and maintenance areas in the bases, according to the military.
The Washington Post reported that, “Video recorded from the southern town of Ar’arat an-Naqab on 01 October 2024 showed at least 20 projectiles flying through the air above the Nevatim military air base. At least six missiles hit the facility, erupting into fireballs; plumes of smoke rose from the airfield. No aircraft was hit, the Israel Defense Forces told Israeli media.”
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis [aka @ArmsControlWonk] reported : "Our first count is that 32 missiles struck Nevatim Air Base -- although three impact points are obscured by clouds in the 50 cm Skysat and had to be made with 3 m Dove images ... The craters/damaged buildings look like they were hit with intact reentry vehicles.... I think the Iranians targeted specific areas of the base and did alright. Ballistic missiles aren’t that accurate. This was pretty successful if one had reasonable expectations.
Yaroslav Trofimov noted :"With one exception, the 32 Iranian missiles that appear to have hit Nevatim air base damaged mostly sand and asphalt because they are so inaccurate. But a salvo this size on Tel Aviv would have led to massive casualties and destruction."
Clash Report indicated "More satellite images of Israel's Nevatim Airbase after Iranian ballistic missile strikes. One of the buildings on the airbase territory was damaged, and one of the shelters for F-35I fighter jets was also hit - a couple more missiles hit near other shelters without causing damage."
Johnthesavage [@Orwellian2017k] reported "In a general summary: the October 1, 2024 attack on Novatim was the most widespread and, in terms of the number of hits, the most successful ballistic attack and basically an attack on air bases containing Western fighters in modern history. But with 6 hits, the effect on the important components of the base will probably not have a serious effect on the operational function. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force was able to saturate Israel's defenses thanks to the security of its launchers before the attack in Novatim (unlike Gillot and the Mossad headquarters), and this is a warning for urban areas and soft targets such as the oil/energy industry of the enemy if not neutralized." The Nabatim base was the target of most of the 110 ballistic missiles launched by the Iranians 13 April 2024. After the attack's failure, the IDF repeatedly clarified that it suffered only minor damage, and that it continues to function. The IDF published three documents of him in action, the Chief of Staff came to it and met pilots there, and the IDF spokesman made a statement in it. After the unprecedented Iranian attack, the IDF repeatedly makes it clear that the main target - the Nabatim base in the south - was only slightly damaged. This is the huge base, the most important of the Air Force today, which was the target of most of the 110 ballistic missiles launched by the Iranians.
After announcing that only minor damage was caused to the infrastructure at the Nabatim base in the Negev, the IDF spokesman presented documentation of the impact near the shuttle route there. Minor damage was also caused to a road in the Hermon area. The attack against Israel came from Iran itself, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and as part of it approximately 350 launches were recorded : "Tehran wanted to damage strategic infrastructures - its plan failed"
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, stated "The base is fully functional. Operations continue around the clock. This is only damage to the infrastructure, with a total of four hits, including one near the runway, one in an open area, and another near the building. All these hits will be repaired in the coming days. Even today, from this base , planes took off to protect the country's skies."
Also, in another statement, Brigadier General Hagari said that "the function of the Nabatim base was not affected, and the planes continued to take off and land and fulfill the defense and attack missions - even during the night, and throughout the day." He presented documentation of an F-35 plane landing there on the first morning, and said: "The missiles caused only minor damage. Iran thought it would paralyze the base and thus harm our air capabilities, but it failed."
Hagari added that "Iran wanted to damage strategic infrastructure while trying to damage the air force's Nabatim base. Iran's plan failed." According to him, "The IDF - together with a strong regional coalition led by the USA, Britain, France and other countries - prevented and thwarted the Iranian attack. Iran and its affiliates endangered the entire Middle East, and made it stand still."
According to the IDF spokesman, the function of the base was not affected and the planes that were there continued to take off and land and fulfill their defense and attack missions - even during the night hours, and throughout the day." The Air Force successfully intercepted in cooperation with other countries, dozens of aerial targets launched from Iran and its affiliates towards Israel. Dozens of the Air Force planes were deployed in the skies of Israel during the night as part of a mission to defend the country, and as mentioned successfully intercepted Iranian drones and cruise missiles.
In 1956, the Nord planes, which had been absorbed a year earlier in the "Elephant" squadron, carried out the parachute drop of the fighters of the 890th paratrooper battalion at the Matala crossing in Sinai as part of the "Kaddesh" operation. In 1963, the Stratocruiser ("giant") plane was received by Gaff at the airfield in Lod, which would later become the "international" squadron. With the arrival of the planes, there was a need for a professional with special skill in loading and balanced weight calculations. In the squadron, a "loading inspectors branch" was established, which became an independent unit 12 years later. In those years, the founding position (flight engineer) was also created. The base area was earmarked for the establishment of a future airport for the city of Beer Sheva and its surroundings as early as 1958, instead of Sde Yemen , which was not suitable for development as a modern airport. In 1966, an inter-ministerial committee was established to examine the possibility of building an international airport in the Beer Sheva area, but in practice the issue was not prioritized.
Nabatim base was inaugurated in 1983, after the air force bases were evacuated from Sinai, as part of the peace agreement with Egypt. In September of 1978 Israeli and Egyptian negotiators met with US President Jimmy Carter at Camp David to negotiate the terms of peace. An agreement was signed in March of 1979 which called for the phased withdrawal of all Israeli troops for the Sinai by 1982. The Camp David Accords were matched by American pledges for security assistance for both Israel and Egypt totaling nearly $3 billion. A new airbase, planned and built by Israel with US funding opened October 1983 with two runways 3,050 meters and 2,440 meters in length. Three of the IDF's key air bases - Ramat David, Tel Nof and Nevatim - are all located close to the pre-1967 cease-fire lines, known as the "Green Line."
In the mid-nineties, they still considered closing the base, or turning it into a new technical school, but the commander of the base at the time - Amos Yadlin - fought against the plan, and the closure did not go ahead. In July 1998 it was reported that Turkish warplanes were based at Nevatim on a regular basis as part of an agreement between Turkey and Israel. In return, Israeli jets are based in Turkey. The Elrom Company has prepared a study examining the possibility of establishing a second international airport for Israel at Nevatim. An unusual coalition of mayors and citizens of the Dan Metropolitan area and the Negev was formed to lobby for developing Nevatim.
During the Six Day War, the "Elephants" squadron carried out transports and fighters, fuel drops, sea patrols, liaison and relay missions. As part of the lessons learned from the war, a "liaison battalion" is established to help expand the connection between the vast territories that Israel captured in the war. The Electronic Warfare Unit (LA) was also established. In the War of Attrition, the squadron evacuated many casualties from the trench battles. In 1971, the "Dakota" squadron split from the "International" squadron following the additional purchase of Dakota and Stratocruiser aircraft.
In the Yom Kippur War, the American "Air Train" led The 12 Hercules (Rhinoceros) planes that joined the two Hercules of the "International" and formed the "Yellow Bird Knights". They immediately began to transport APCs, personnel and equipment to Sinai and evacuated the wounded in 26 sorties. Following the lessons of the war, the recognition that the Air Force needed an independent collection unit that operates intelligence systems was established, and thus ASM (airborne intelligence collection) was established, which operates a communications branch, a signaling branch, and a processing branch based on data collected from the Ram aircraft (Boeing-707).
In 1974, The "Elephant" squadron in Lod and the base where all the transport planes were concentrated. In 1975, a YAK (front landing unit) was established responsible for preparing the area for the deployment of the Rhinos. In 1976, the Air Force said goodbye to the hovercraft and that year the Rhinos participated in the "Thunderball" operation known as the Entebbe operation to free the hostages from the "Air France" flight in Uganda.
Attrition of the aircraft inventory during the Yom Kippur War, along with the future intake of Kafir, 15-F and A16-F aircraft, as well as the additional intake of Eagle (Skyhawk) and Cornes (Phantom) aircraft, led to the recognition of the need to open another wing in the The base was planned to be built in Kutzima in Sinai, but due to the formation of the peace agreement with Egypt, it was decided to build it in the Negev. In 1979, the Commanders' Forum in the Corps decided on the name "Nabatim", taken from the Bible.
In 1982, the base was opened with the "Hangev" squadron and maintenance, aviation and administrative squadrons. In April 1985, the work was completed with the absorption of all the squadrons and the completion of the construction of the complete infrastructure for their operation. On July 17 1985 KAM training (operational training course) was given to the "Flying Wing" squadron in the wing, following the conversion of the "Golden Eagle" squadron to a hawk squadron. In 1991, the KAM split for the first time and was carried out alternately in the wing's two eagle squadrons, the "Flying Dragon" and the "Flying Wing", until 1994. In the first Gulf War, the Air Force was prepared, in part through the deployment of members from the Falcon, Lightning and Hawk squadrons to the base and participation in carrying out the interception preparations.
In Operation "Accountability", the Eagle squadrons of the base carried out 72 sorties to attack and fire. During the "Grapes of Wrath" operation, the base squadrons carried out 126 attack sorties. In order to prevent casualties among IDF soldiers during the departure from Lebanon in 2000, the Air Force assisted in attacks and demonstrated presence in the skies of Lebanon. Throughout the withdrawal, the "Flying Wing" squadron made sorties to block axes and attack a battery of guns. Following the expected reception of the storm planes, it was decided in May 2001 Because towards the end of 2002 the "Flying Wing" squadron will close down as an operator of eagle planes and take over the Hawk planes of the "Negev" squadron, so that it can begin preparing to receive the "Supah" planes that arrived in Israel in September 2003.
Tens of F-16 fighter jets, originating from a base in the south of the country, landed March 31, 2003 at the Nevatim Air Force base. A ceremony for the transfer of the squadron was held in the presence of the Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Dan Halutz. The new squadron will be known as the "Flying Wing." A decade earlier, the IDF chain of command raised the question of whether or not to close the base at Nevatim as a result of budgetary woes. However, with reception of the new squadron and additional changes in the offing, Nevatim has been transformed into one of largest bases in the country. In June 2003, an additional squadron of F-16's arrived at the base, and plans have been made to receive transport planes. F-16's were introduced to the Israeli Air Force in 1980, and serve as the backbone of the IAF. A year after their arrival, the planes were deployed to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor. Several of the planes that were moved participated in the attack.
In 1983 Kelt deployed the Arava aircraft in the "Dakota" squadron. Three years later, the Air Force participated for the first time in the rodeo competition, in which transport aircraft from all over the world compete. In 1991, the Rhinoceros and Ram planes brought about 1500 immigrants from Ethiopia as part of "Operation Solomon" in cooperation with the El-Al company. In 2001, the Dakota finished its role and the "Dakota" squadron began preparations to receive the "Nachshon" aircraft and received its name. Two years later, the corps said goodbye to the Arava aircraft. In 2002, the weapons ship "Karin A" was captured, which was escorted by Seagull aircraft (C-Scan) for a long time. In 2006, the Nachshon (Galfstream) aircraft used for control (in the Eitam configuration) and intelligence (in the Comet configuration) was absorbed into the Air Force.
Since the 1980s, the transport system has participated in many aid missions to areas affected by natural disasters or political conflicts and has helped Israelis and Jews around the world affected by these. Among the prominent examples: aid to the Kurdish refugees who fled to Turkey in the first Gulf War, aid to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey in 1999 and the evacuation of the injured and dead tourists from the al-Qaeda attack in Mombasa, Kenya in 2002.
As part of the national plan for the strengthening and development of the Negev and with the intention of creating a significant turning point in the economy, education, academia and employment in the region, the Israeli government made a decision to transfer IDF units from the center to the Negev. , David Ben-Gurion's vision of the flowering of the Negev. The execution of a project of this type, with a budget of tens of billions of shekels, required and requires full organizational preparation, a high level of coordination with the military authorities and mobilization of the government, local authorities and government companies.
The Ministry of Defense was chosen to lead the huge project and for this purpose the Administration of the Transition to the South was established. The Administration for the Transition to the South leads the transition of IDF units to the Negev, while ensuring the improvement of the IDF's operational effectiveness, the improvement and renewal of the national infrastructure, and alongside the development of the Negev and the periphery.
In the early 2000s the base changed completely. During a huge construction boom, hundreds of pilots, technical staff members, technicians and civilian employees of the IDF were absorbed. They built sheds for airplanes, bunkers for ammunition and dozens of housing units for air crew quarters. All this was the preparation for the absorption of an entire base that was transferred to it - in HA 27 which was located near Netavg.
The process of planning and building the operational infrastructure, the squadron and unit buildings, and the adjustment of the administrative infrastructure at the base, lasted about four years. 1.6 billion was invested in moving the base from Ben Gurion to Nabatim NIS. At the ceremony for the opening of HA 28, the pilots of the honor flight pledged "We are proud to take part in making the vision a reality. We undertake to blossom the wilderness and protect the State of Israel from the lands of the Negev".
Two Rhino squadrons (Hercules, a Boeing squadron, a "Gulf Stream" squadron (Nachshon) operated at the same base, as well as intelligence and air rescue units - all of which were moved south. As a result, the size of the base doubled, factories and workshops were established to provide maintenance services and Many aircrew families moved in. The next step was to absorb the F-35 jets purchased from the United States.
There are three F-35 squadrons in Nabatim - the Lions of the South (116), the First Jet (117) and the Golden Eagle (140). The same stealth fighter jets were also the ones that intercepted outside the country's borders the swarms of UAVs launched by the Iranians in the attack.
The base is renewed: the long flight route in the Middle East and a variety of squadrons, with the opening of the Hawk era, the "Flying Wing" squadron was reopened under the name "Defenders of the South". At the same time, The "Golden Eagle" squadron moved from the Ramon base to Nabatim In April 2005, the infrastructure works at the base began, which lasted for about four years. In April 2008, the flight path at the base, which is the longest flight path in the Middle East, was moved on August 25, 2008. , the "Elephants" and the "Knights of the Yellow Bird" by plane from the Lod base to their new home at the Nebatim base.
As part of cooperation agreements with the air forces of the USA and Turkey, the Nabatim base is used as a "strategic" field to host the teams and planes deployed from abroad and training in Israel. The base houses the two squadrons of the two-seat Hawk used for air-to-ground and air-to-air missions. The armament dropped by the Hawk is unguided bombs, which were widely used in the Second Lebanon War.
The "Golden Eagle" is responsible for the KAM (Operational Training Course) where straight fighter pilots from the pilot course come and learn basic content in the basics of air combat for six months, which are intended for the F-16 formation. The squadron has the Netz training center, which contains a simulator from the company " Elbit" intended for both the pilots and the trainees of the courses at the base. In the KAM (advanced operational training course), held at the "Golden Eagle" squadron, the trainees practice for the first time content with an operational connection to their training flights. Beyond that, the squadron is also involved in the field of air terrorism and serves as a military "information center" on the matter.
The first squadron of the F-35 stealth fighter, the fifth-generation fighter jet that earned the Hebrew name "Adir" opened at the Nabatim base. Also, the base's Rhinoceros squadrons will receive state-of-the-art Hercules-J aircraft ("Samson" aircraft) which are expected to advance the Air Force's transport system.
In mid-January 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited one of those squadrons, and met, among other things, with the commander of the base, Brigadier General Yotam Sigler. In a conversation with him and the commander of Squadron 116, they reviewed the various missions that the squadron performs: assistance to the forces maneuvering in Gaza, attacks in the northern arena, detection and interception of hostile air targets and collection missions.
"The war continues and it will continue until the end, until we complete all our goals: the return of the abductees, the elimination of Hamas and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said at the time. "May no one mislead us. We will continue to fight on land, at sea and in the air, until complete victory."
In 2021, the base made headlines in a negative context - after a Palestinian who stole a car broke into it and drove at a speed of 100 km/h against the direction of traffic, with policemen chasing him. When the thief reached the exit gate of the sprawling base, he ran over spikes and the car's tires were punctured. Following this, he abandoned the car and ran a distance of about 1,300 meters inside the base, climbed over a fence and escaped. Finally he took a taxi to the Mitra checkpoint, crossed the border and left Israel. He was arrested after re-entering Israel to work, and after being convicted he was sent to 14 months in prison.
On 13 October 2023 US Secretary of Defense Austin, IMoD Director General Zamir and IDF Deputy Chief of General Staff Baram welcomed an American cargo plane at the Nevatim Air Force base, the first landing of such aircraft since the commencement of the war, delivering armaments for IDF use. An underground strategic air command post is reportedly located at Nevatim Air Base. The base operates an X-band radar , which belongs to the United States. The radar was capable of detecting missile threats from a distance of about 5,000 kilometers , thus giving Israel a longer warning time.
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