Squadrons

Ramat David
32°39'N 35°10'E

The Ramat David base ("Jewish camp") was established in the Jezreel Valley in 1941 as part of the British Air Force infrastructure. The base was used as an alternative base to the Haifa base, which was attacked by German planes during World War II. The British gave the base the name Ramat-David, after David Lloyd George, Minister of War and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Hezbollah have struck Israel's Ramat David Airbase located north of the city of Haifa, the movement's press service said on 05 October 2024. "Islamic resistance fighters attacked Ramat David base with Fadi-1 missiles," the statement read.

Ramat David Air Base is located in the center of Northern Israel southeast of Haifa, near Megiddo and the border with the occupied West Bank. 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." Built in 1942 as RAF Ramat David, it transfered to the IDF/AF on 26 May 1948. Located northern Israel, The base has three runways, one 2,440 meters long, and the other two 2,750 meters in length.

The dense volleys of missiles fired early in the morning of 23 September 2024 from Lebanon to the Jezreel Valley had one address - the air force base in Ramat David. It has been many months that Hezbollah has been threatening to attack the base, which it had set as a central target, when it even added and boasted of aerial photographs of it that were recorded by a UAV camera that penetrated Israeli skies. The attempts to attack the northern base did not begin that morning.

It had been decades that the airstrips and hangars of the Air Force have been a central target for the enemies Beyond Israel's borders, the British Air Force base in Ramat David was founded in 1941, after replacing an "institution for juvenile delinquents" that had been operating there since 1938, which in turn replaced an agricultural research station established in 1925. The first pilot to land in the harvested corn field in the heart of the valley A military airport had Roald Dahl, later a famous author ("James and the Giant Peach", "Charlie in the Chocolate Kingdom" and more).

On June 10, 1941, the British airport - which was then operating in Haifa - was attacked, and it was necessary to find an alternative airfield. Dahl located a suitable place for this, when later, in his book "Single Flight", he wrote about the landing in what was supposed to be a secret place.

In November 1942 the American the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moved from Ramat David, Palestine to Fayid, Egypt with B-24 bombers.

The Ramat David base was attacked by Arab armies for the first time very shortly after the declaration of the independence of the State of Israel. On May 22, 1948, Egyptian Spitfire pilots attacked the place. Four British soldiers were killed in the bombing. The Egyptians claimed that their pilots were confused and mistakenly thought that they had hit the Megiddo airport, while according to information, the Egyptians thought that the Ramat David field had passed into the hands of the Israeli army and were surprised to discover that the British had not yet evacuated it.

In the 1956 Sinai Campaign Israel was allied with France and England, which had decided to take action after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. French Mystere fighter squadrons were deployed at both Ramat David and Lod air force bases.

In 1967 Israeli army units entered the West Bank during the Six Day War after Israel was attacked along this front with intense artillery bombardment that struck Jerusalem, Israeli air fields like Ramat David, and major cities. On 05 June 1967 the 45th Armored Brigade broke through the border northern part of the Samarian Hills, with the intention of removing the Jordanian long-range artillery threat on the Ramat David Airbase.

The Israel Defense Forces' commando operation on the Night of the 28-29 December 1968 attacked at the Beirut International Airport. The operational task force assembled in Ramat-David Airbase. The mission was to sabotage the maximum number of airplanes belonging to Arab airlines, in retaliation for the 22 July 1968 terrorists hijacking of an El Al plane. A total of 14 planes were destroyed.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Syrians managed to hit the base, kill a pilot, injure several more soldiers as well as cause damage. From the first day of that war, 1st Wing pilots in Ramat David operated around the clock. On the second day of the war, the base was surprised by a huge explosion. Some time later, it turned out that Soviet FROG missiles fired from Syria had exploded near the base. From that moment everyone understood the danger hovering above them. "The planes would land in Ramat David for repairs and the mechanics worked all night in the open garages, without protection. Their hands were shaking. Their commanders worked together all night and in the morning there was not a single plane that was not repaired," described the atmosphere at the base during the war retired Brigadier General Eric Azuz - commander The aviation squadron of the Ramat David base during the war.

The FROG missile barrage also caused heavy damage in the neighboring settlements - Kibbutz Ramat David and the town of Migdal Hamek. In both settlements there were no casualties in what was defined as "miracles". In Kibbutz Ramat David, the missile hit the heart of the children's residential area. In those years, when the "shared sleeping" method was accepted in the kibbutzim, 98 children and toddlers, 18 of them infants, slept in the children's homes. Due to the war, the children moved to sleep in shelters and were not harmed. Many buildings were heavily damaged. A reporter who arrived at the destroyed kibbutz met two young volunteers who stated that precisely because of the incident they would stay.

Also in the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah tried to hit the Ramat David base and fired rockets at it, however even then they failed in their attempts.

Squadron 117 together with 110 Squadron attacked the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.

Lebanese Hezbollah published a "target card" for the Israeli Ramat David Air Base at dawn on Sunday 22 September 2024. Hezbollah stated in a video clip that included graphics and photos taken by the “Hudhud” drone previously, that the “Ramat David” base is the only air base in northern occupied Palestine. He added that it includes a group of air specialties distributed between warplanes, combat helicopters, transport and rescue helicopters, marine reconnaissance helicopters, and offensive electronic warfare systems.

He pointed out that the Ramat David Air Base includes three combat squadrons: Valley 109, First Battle 101, and Scorpion 105, in addition to the intelligence squadron Night Hunters 160, the naval reconnaissance squadron Western Protectors 193, the electronic warfare squadron 157, and four staff squadrons for support, maintenance, and management services. Hezbollah said that the Israeli military base is 46 km from the Lebanese border. The video published by Hezbollah included aerial footage documented by a drone lens in July 2024.

Hezbollah published footage it said was of the Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel, taken by the Al-Hudhud drone. At that time, the "Hudhud" camera monitored the air base command headquarters, the Iron Dome platforms next to it, the communications dome, the garage, the maintenance departments, the officers' residences, and other centers affiliated with the air base. The party confirmed that "the air base targeted by the photography is considered one of the most important air bases and is the only military air base in the north." He explained that the base "includes shelves of all air specialties: interception, landing, and attack."

The Lebanese Hezbollah announced at dawn on Sunday that it had targeted the Israeli "Ramat David" air base southeast of the city of Haifa with dozens of "Fadi 1" and "Fadi 2" missiles. The Islamic Resistance also targeted targets in Afula and Nazareth. It is worth noting that Hezbollah's attack at dawn today is the farthest-reaching towards Israel since the start of the confrontations with Israel on October 8, 2023. In recent weeks, the escalation between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah has increased, raising fears of a full-scale war.