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Tel Nof Airbase
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Airport type
Military
Elevation AMSL
193 ft / 59 m
7,835
2,388
Elevation
59 m
Location
Rehovot
15R/33L
7,835
2,388
Asphalt
Operator
Israeli Air Force
Tel Nof Israeli Air Force (Hebrew: בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר תֵּל נוֹף) (ICAO: LLEK), also known as Air Force Base 8, is one of three principal airbases of the Israeli Air Force. Tel Nof is located near Rehovot, Israel.
Tel Nof was founded in July 1939 during the British Mandate as RAF Aqir and served as the main Royal Air Force station in Palestine. From the 1948 Arab-Israeli War until 1950 it was known as Ekron Airfield.
Today Tel Nof houses several fighter and helicopter squadrons. Several special units of the Israel Defense Forces are also located here, including Unit 669 (airborne combat search and rescue) and the paratroopers training centre. Tel Nof housed the IAF flight academy until April 1966 when it was moved to Hatzerim Airbase.
In June 2011, it was reported that eight American jet engines for F-15 and F-16 fighters had been stolen from the base.
On 18 October 2011, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for over five years and four months, returned to Israel via Tel Nof as part of a deal to exchange Shalit for 1,027 prisoners.
Units
106th Squadron - operating F-15AB/C/D
114th Squadron - operating CH-53
118th Squadron - operating CH-53
133rd Squadron - operating F-15A/B/D
210th Squadron - operating IAI Eitan UAVs
Flight Test Center
Unit 669, airborne combat search and rescue.
Paratrooper Training Center
RAF Aqir Operational units
Operational units of the Royal Air Force stationed at RAF Aqir from 1941 to 1948.
No. 32 Squadron RAF (1946) Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 37 Squadron RAF (1945) Consolidated Liberator VI
No. 45 Squadron RAF (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 55 Squadron RAF (1941) Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 70 Squadron RAF (1945) Consolidated Liberator VI
No. 76 Operational Training Unit RAF Vickers Wellington - Formed at RAF Aqir on 1 October 1943, equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk.IIIs and Xs to train night bomber crews for squadrons in the Middle East, disbanding on 30 July 1945. 76 OTU, despite operating Wellingtons, were also working up crews for B-24 Liberators. After completion of their course those crews were passed on to Liberator conversion units.
