# Kibrit Air Base

Kibrit Air Base (formerly Kabrit Air Base) is an operational Egyptian Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية المصرية, al-Qūwāt al-Gawwīyah al-Miṣrīyah) helicopter base located in Egypt, approximately 20 miles north of Suez and 125 km east of Cairo. An SA-342 Gazelle unit is based here. The name of the station came from a nearby village, and in Egyptian means "sulphur". Kabrit now is the name of a pilot station for Suez canal navigation on the same location.

## History

During World War II the facility was known as Royal Air Force Station Kabrit, (Landing Ground 213) and was a major Royal Air Force facility which was used during the Western Desert campaign. In 1941, it was where the Special Air Service (SAS) was formed. Beginning in 1943, United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force units arrived to supplement the RAF against the Germans in the Western Desert. After the war, Kabrit remained a RAF station, hosting transport squadrons, five circa 1946. This continued until the breakdown in relations between the British and Egyptian governments in 1956, when the decision was taken to pull out British forces from the Suez Canal Zone.
The airfield was taken over by the Egyptian Air Force and renamed "Kibrit", becoming one of its main airfields. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, it was an airfield for 20 Squadron EAF, equipped with twelve Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the station was attacked by the Israeli Air Force, and many of its Soviet-built MiG-17 aircraft were destroyed on the ramp by the IAF's Dassault Mystère IVs. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, the airfield was captured by Israeli ground forces that crossed the Suez Canal along with Kasfreet and Shalufa Airfields, however it was not used by the Israeli Air Force.
Kibrit remains an Egyptian Air Force base. Currently, the airfield houses an SA-342 Gazelle unit. Its main runways are having their asphalt removed, but the hangars are still being used for housing the helicopters.

### Operational units and aircraft

| Unit | Dates | Aircraft |
| No. 13 Squadron RAF | 1943–1944 | Martin Baltimore V and VI |
| | 1946–1947 | de Havilland Mosquito PR34 |
| | 1951–1955 | Supermarine Spitfire PR11 then Gloster Meteor PR10 |
| No. 14 Squadron RAF Detachment | 1942 | Bristol Blenheim IV |
| No. 32 Squadron RAF | 1954–1955 | de Havilland Venom FB1 |
| No. 37 Squadron RAF | 1946 | Avro Lancaster B7 |
| No. 39 Squadron RAF | 1951–1955 | de Havilland Mosquito NF36 then Gloster Meteor NF13 |
| No. 40 Squadron RAF | 1942 | Vickers Wellington 1C |
| No. 55 Squadron RAF | 1944 | Martin Baltimore IV and V |
| No. 70 Squadron RAF | 1946 | Avro Lancaster B1(FE) |
| No. 73 Squadron RAF | 1952 | de Havilland Vampire FB9 |
| No. 78 Squadron RAF | 1947–1950 | Douglas Dakota |
| No. 80 Squadron RAF | 1943–1944 | Supermarine Spitfire IX |
| No. 104 Squadron RAF | 1942 | Vickers Wellington II |
| No. 108 Squadron RAF | 1941 | Vickers Wellington IC |
| | 1942 | Consolidated Liberator II |
| No. 113 Squadron RAF | 1941 | Bristol Blenheim IV |
| No. 114 Squadron RAF | 1947–1951 | Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1 |
| No. 148 Squadron RAF | 1941–1942 | Vickers Wellington IC & II |
| No. 162 Squadron RAF | 1942 | Vickers Wellington IC & II |
| No. 203 Squadron RAF | 1941 | Bristol Blenheim IV |
| No. 204 Squadron RAF | 1947–1951 | Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1 |
| No. 208 Squadron RAF | 1951 | Gloster Meteor FR9 |
| No. 215 Squadron RAF | 1947–1948 | Douglas Dakota |
| No. 216 Squadron RAF | 1947–1951 | Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1 |
| No. 219 Squadron RAF | 1951–1954 | de Havilland Mosquito NF36 then Gloster Meteor NF13 |
| No. 683 Squadron RAF | 1951 | Vickers Valetta C1 |
| 324th Fighter Group, 315th Squadron | July 1943 | P-40F or K Warhawk |
| 57th Bombardment Wing HQs | July 1943 | (B-25C or D Mitchell, A-20 Havoc) |