Nevatim Airbase. Nevatim Airbase (, English: sprouts) , also Air Force Base 28, is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base, located 15 km east-southeast of Beersheba, near moshav Nevatim in the northern Negev desert. It is one of the largest in Israel and has three runways of different lengths. Stealth fighter jets, transport aircraft, tanker aircraft and machines for electronic reconnaissance/surveillance, as well as the Wing of Zion, are stationed there. The airbase has long been under discussion for dual use – military and civilian – as an airport for the growing city of Beersheba (see International Airport).

History 
As early as 1947, a rough runway was built here in the northern Negev Desert for the Sherut Avir, the air wing of the Haganah. The former airfield was named Malhata after the archaeological site Tel Malhata northeast of today's northern runway within the airbase ().

In 1958, the site was earmarked for the construction of a future international airport for the city of Beersheba and its surroundings, which would replace the local airport located to the northwest, which was not suitable for development as a modern major airport. In 1966, an inter-ministerial committee was set up to study the possibility of building an international airport in the Beersheba region, but in practice this issue was not further promoted.

It was reopened in 1983 as a new modern airbase with initially two runways as the result of joint Israeli and US government funding as part of the IAF's redeployment out of its bases in the Sinai after the peninsula was returned to Egypt following the Camp David Accords. From 1979 to 1982 Ramon Airbase and Ovda Airbase were also built in the Negev – mainly by US companies.

For the construction of the Nevatim Airbase, some Israeli Bedouins had to be relocated outside the planned area. They were financially compensated for this, and efforts are still being made to maintain a good relationship with them.

140 Squadron "Golden Eagle" 
The 140 Squadron "Golden Eagle", which operated from 1973 with A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit and then from 1986 with F-16A/B Fighting Falcon Netz, was relocated from the abandoned Etzion Airbase via Ramon to Nevatim. The F-16A Netz #243, flown by Ilan Ramon (1954–2003), was involved in Operation Opera, the attack and destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor Osirak on 7 June 1981 (see photo of F-16A in the gallery below, especially the triangle symbol of Operation Opera on the jet).

All F-16s of the airbase were retired in the mid-2010s and replaced by F-35Is starting in late 2016.

Today

Infrastructure 
While transport and tanker aircraft as well as reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft are stationed on the southern area of the airbase with one runway, the northern area with its two runways is reserved for the three squadrons with F-35I stealth fighter jets. Two other runways located there are no longer in operation. This can be clearly seen on satellite images. The southern runway, built in 2008, is 3,900 metres long and was the longest runway in the Middle East at the time.

F-35I Adir 
Since December 2016, new F-35I Adir (The Mighty One) fighter jets have been stationed at Nevatim. Israel buys them from a US manufacturer consortium around Lockheed Martin, modified according to its needs. A total of 75 of these stealth jets have been ordered so far, which are to be delivered by the end of the 2020s. This will fill up three squadrons, all of which are already set up at Nevatim and will reach full strength by that time. These are the 116 Squadron "Lions Of The South", the 117 Squadron "First Jet" and the 140 Squadron "Golden Eagle", all of which have a longer history on other bases and with other aircraft (see Units).

Parallel to the introduction of the F-35I, a flight simulator was also installed at Nevatim, which is intended to familiarize new pilots with the aircraft before they sit in the cockpit for the first time and to familiarize experienced pilots with combat situations without putting themselves in danger. After a year-long testing and training phase, Israel officially declared the base's first eight F-35Is operational at the beginning of December 2017. On 22 May 2018, Israel's then Air Force commander, Major General Amikam Norkin, reported that Israel became the first country in the world to use the F-35 in combat during recent clashes with Iran in Syria. In July 2019, Nevatim-based F-35Is twice attacked Iranian missile depots located north and northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Other airplanes 
The Boeing 707 Re'em tanker aircraft, which date back to the 1970s and have been stationed at Nevatim since 2008, will be gradually replaced by the newer Boeing KC-46A Pegasus. At the beginning of 2021, Israel signed a preliminary contract for initially two tanker aircraft; in the medium term, up to eight examples are planned, which are to be delivered from around 2025. In November 2024, it was announced that Boeing had begun production of the first of four tanker aircraft for Israel and that there's an option for eight more. In addition, new large hangars will be built for all Pegasus tankers.

The 122 Squadron "Nachshon", which has existed since 1971, operates several Gulfstream jets in different configurations at Nevatim: three GV SEMA Shavit aircraft since 2005, five G550 CAEW Eitam aircraft since 2008 and the G550 ELINT/COMINT Oron since 2021, all of them for various tasks, such as electronic reconnaissance and surveillance, early warning, photo reconnaissance, etc. also for the Israeli Navy. The purchase of additional machines of the latest type is in progress.

The Nevatim Airbase is also the home base of the so-called Israeli Air Force One, a converted Boeing 767 for international visits by the President of Israel or the Prime Minister. Officially called Wing of Zion, it is operated by the IAF and has its own hangar at Nevatim. The purchase and maintenance of this machine are very controversial in Israel, which led to it being shut down before it was put into operation in 2022. After Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected as Prime Minister at the end of 2022, the Wing of Zion was finally put into operation in the course of 2023 and made its first official flight in July 2024.

International Airport 
Since the international Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv has been reaching its capacity limits for years, there are considerations to convert one of Israel's military airbases completely or partially into a civilian airport or to expand it accordingly. In addition to a complete conversion of Ramat David Airbase in the north of Israel, a dual use of Nevatim Airbase is being discussed, as it could be expanded without major problems because it is surrounded by desert with only few settlements. The proximity to the growing city Beersheba (around 15 km) also speaks for this. The IAF is strongly opposed to this proposal as it believes it would restrict military flight movements too much.

At the end of January 2025, the Knesset decided to have a plan drawn up by the end of the year on how an international airport could be set up at Nevatim. This does not mean that it will actually be built, but all options will first be examined as to how and where an airport can be built there. However, the events after 7 October 2023 have also shown how intensively the IAF uses the Nevatim airbase to carry out all of its tasks, such as the intensive operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, in Lebanon and Syria, the long-range retaliatory strikes in Iran and against the Houthis in Yemen. If a dual airport in Nevatim comes about, operations from there like in the past will no longer be possible.

Nuclear weapons 
After the US Air Force announced in early March 2024 that its F-35 stealth jets are now certified for use with B61-12 atomic bombs, there is an increasing discussion about whether the Israeli F-35I Adir at Nevatim are also capable of transporting and dropping Israeli nuclear weapons. For this purpose, they would have to be stored on the base in specially secured bunkers.

2024 Iranian attacks

In April 2024 the air base suffered an attack from Iran as part of the 2024 Iran–Israel conflict; according to an analysis of satellite images by Associated Press, there was only minor damage.

In the October 2024 Iranian attack, videos geolocated by CNN showed a significant number of Iranian missiles hitting the base. Iranian media reported that several of Israel's most advanced aircraft had been destroyed, without providing evidence to support this assertion.

The IDF stated: "Tonight's Iranian ballistic missile attack has had no operational impact on the IAF and its ongoing airstrikes against terror targets in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon". Flight route records indicated that a significant portion of the IAF's Boeing 707 and C-130 aircraft were on station off the Israeli coast, either to support IAF fighter activity or put into the air for their own safety in anticipation of attacks on the air bases.

Satellite images taken after the attack showed four apparent impacts of Iranian missiles at the base. One caused a large hole in the roof of a hangar complex near the southern runway. Another missile appeared to have struck a road on the base. The IDF said Iranian missiles damaged "office buildings and other maintenance areas" at its air bases but that no soldiers, weapons or aircraft were hit.

Units 
 103 Squadron "Elephants" – operating the C-130J Super Hercules Shimshon
 116 Squadron "Lions Of The South" – operating the F-35I Adir since November 2019
 117 Squadron "First Jet" – operating the F-35I Adir, initially for pilot training since July 2021
 120 Squadron "Desert Giants" – operating the Boeing 707 Re'em as a flying tanker, will be replaced by KC-46 Pegasus
 122 Squadron "Nachshon" – operating the GV Shavit and G550 Eitam & Oron as SEMA/CAEW/ELINT/COMINT ⃰ planes
 131 Squadron "Knights Of The Yellow Bird" – operating the C-130H Hercules Karnaf
 140 Squadron "Golden Eagle" – operating the F-35I Adir since December 2016
 Operating the Wing of Zion with its own hangar aka Israeli Air Force One
 Unit 5700 – Forward Airfield Tactical Unit (Special unit, at Nevatim since 2009)
⃰ SEMA = Special Electronic Mission Aircraft, CAEW = Conformal Airborne Early Warning, ELINT = Electronic Intelligence, COMINT = Communication Intelligence

Note: IAF aircraft can usually be assigned to their squadron by the symbols on the tail or the air intakes

Accidents 

 On 13 September 2009, an F-16A from Nevatim crashed over mountainous terrain during a training flight in the southern West Bank. Since the 21-year-old pilot Assaf Ramon had not reported any problems before the crash, it was assumed that he had suddenly fainted as a result of the high speed and G-force conditions to which he was subjected. Assaf Ramon was the son of Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. Ramon Airport near Eilat is named after these two men (see photo on the right).

References

External links

Nevatim from globalsecurity.org
Aeroflight World Airforces

Airports in Israel
Israeli Air Force bases