110 Squadron (Israel)

A 2011 order-of-battle table listed 110 Squadron — the "Knights of the North" — under Wing 1 at Ramat David Air Base, equipped with F-16C Block 30 aircraft.[1] The base is in northern Israel, east of Yokneam.[3]

The squadron's memorial is located in its club at Ramat David. It consists of a stone-covered wall bearing framed photographs and details of the fallen, with the Hebrew word "Yizkor" ("Remember") inscribed in metal letters on an adjacent wall.[3] Visitors must obtain permission to enter the base.

An official memorial record describes 110 Squadron as an Israeli Air Force fighter unit that has existed since the 1950s.[3] A catalog record lists a related work titled טייסת אבירי הצפון מאז 1953 ("The Knights of the North Squadron since 1953"), credits Air Force Squadron 110 as its creator, and gives design credit to Raanan Weiss.[4] The date in the title is not, by itself, confirmation of the squadron's founding year.

Over its operational life, 110 Squadron flew a succession of European and American aircraft. On February 11, 1962, 117 Squadron transferred its Gloster Meteors to 110 Squadron in anticipation of 117's reactivation as a Dassault Mirage unit.[5] Squadron 110 primarily used the Meteors as trainers until their retirement from its service in 1970.[5]

During the Six-Day War in 1967, the squadron operated the French-built Sud Aviation Vautour, then the Israeli Air Force's longest-range aircraft.[6] Its range allowed the squadron to attack distant airfields in Iraq and southern Egypt.[6]

After the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli Air Force increasingly adopted American aircraft. Israel obtained the F-16 Fighting Falcon through the Peace Marble I Foreign Military Sales program, and its first four F-16A/Bs arrived in July 1980, achieving initial operating capability within weeks.[9] Amir Nachumi, then commander of 110 Squadron, spent three months in the United States learning the aircraft and flew about 20 sorties there.[9] By 2011, the squadron was listed at Ramat David with F-16C Block 30 aircraft.[1]

110 Squadron's most demanding operations during the 1967 Six-Day War involved strikes against distant airfields in Egypt and Iraq, missions made possible by the Vautour's range.[6]

On April 7, 1967 — weeks before the war formally began — Syrian fire struck two Israeli tractors working disputed plots along the northern frontier. When shelling resumed, the Israeli Air Force responded with a major air attack. At 13:32, 110 Squadron Vautours led the strike on Syrian positions, followed by 107 Squadron Ouragans, 105 Squadron Super Mystères, 116 and 109 Squadron Mystères, and 117 Squadron Mirages.[10] The attack was broken off after Syrian MiGs were spotted approaching, and 101 Squadron Mirages were dispatched to engage them.[10]

The Israeli Air Force flew 171 sorties that day: 84 attack sorties, 52 interception and patrol sorties, and 35 launched aircraft that did not join the fighting. The force attacked 17 Syrian targets and dropped 65 tons of bombs.[10]

When the Six-Day War opened on June 5, 1967, 110 Squadron was assigned attacks on Iraq's H-3 airfield, as well as the Egyptian airfields at Luxor and Ras Banas, and is credited with destroying Egyptian Tu-16 bombers.[6] Three Vautour attacks were made against H-3. The first, at 14:15 on June 5, sent three aircraft without fighter escort; they struck buildings and infrastructure and returned without loss.[11] The following morning, four Vautours escorted by two Mirages from 117 Squadron again damaged the airfield's infrastructure and returned without Israeli losses. Three Iraqi aircraft were downed during the engagement.[6][11]

H-3 remained operational because its runways had not been disabled, prompting a third attack. The Iraqi defenders reinforced the airfield with mobile antiaircraft guns, expanded their patrols, and kept eight Hawker Hunters airborne.[11] The Israeli force was detected early. Four Mirages carrying runway-cratering bombs missed the runways, while the Vautours flew without the "Yabelet" electronic-warfare system, which was undergoing maintenance.[11]

During the resulting battle, an Israeli Mirage shot down an Iraqi Hunter but was then struck by a missile fired by a Pakistani instructor; its pilot, Gideon Dror, was captured.[11] The lead Vautour was hit and crashed, killing Shlomo Keren and Alex Inbar. A second Vautour was hit by antiaircraft fire, and its pilot, Yitzhak Golan, was captured.[11] The airfield was not neutralized. Across the three attacks, Israel lost three aircraft and two aircrew members, while three personnel were captured and 21 Iraqi aircraft were destroyed.[11]

Yaakov Turner commanded 110 Squadron from September 1967 through July 1969, including during the War of Attrition.[12] He had commanded 107 Squadron during the Six-Day War and later led the Air Force Flight School and Hatzor Air Base.[12]

On June 7, 1981, 110 and 117 Squadrons participated in Operation Opera, the Israeli raid that destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.[2][13] The overall force comprised eight F-16s carrying bombs and six F-15s providing air cover, and flew approximately 1,100 kilometers to the target.[6]

Squadron commander Amir Nachumi led four F-16s within the eight-aircraft strike element.[9] A few weeks later, in July 1981, Nachumi and 110 Squadron were flying F-16A/B escorts for Israeli A-4 Skyhawks over Lebanon when Syrian MiG-21s attempted to intercept the formation.[9] Nachumi detected and shot down a MiG, becoming the first pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft with an F-16A/B.[9] He remained in command of 110 Squadron during the First Lebanon War and shot down six additional enemy aircraft during that conflict.[9]

During the Second Lebanon War in August 2006, F-16C Barak aircraft from the Knights of the North and Valley squadrons intercepted Hezbollah unmanned aerial vehicles with air-to-air missiles. One was intercepted over the sea in Lebanese territory and another north of Haifa.[14] During the 34-day campaign, the four F-16 squadrons collectively based at Ramat David flew more than one-quarter of all Israeli Air Force fighter sorties, totaling roughly 3,000. The base's proximity to the war zone contributed to its large share of the workload.[1]

A later commander, Assaf Tzlal, described 110 Squadron as his most significant and operationally challenging command. During his tenure, he worked with then-Givati Brigade commander Yaron Finkelman to develop joint operational plans, and the squadron prepared targets for a possible operation in Gaza.[15]

Operation Opera generated substantial debate within Israel and criticism abroad. Political, military, and intelligence figures disputed whether the raid should proceed, with opponents warning that it could be treated as an act of war, harm Israel's relations with other states, and provoke military or economic retaliation.[13] The operation was widely condemned internationally, and the United States voted for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel.[13]

110 Squadron maintained one of the Israeli Air Force's more distinctive traditions: a live donkey mascot, with a designated pilot serving as its "donkey officer."[16] The custom originated during Yaakov Turner's command in 1968, when he purchased a donkey named Butros to pull a cart delivering chocolate milk and rolls to squadron personnel.[16] Butros repeatedly escaped onto the base's runways, and after the wing commander ordered the animal removed, it was sold for 25 lira.[16]

The tradition was revived in 1987 when commander Shlomo Shesh brought a donkey back as the squadron received new F-16s. The squadron later kept three donkeys in a pen near the aircraft shelters.[16]

By September 2020, 110 Squadron had closed along with another F-16 squadron.[7] Veterans of the unit lobbied Air Force command to preserve the squadron's designation but lost the argument to veterans of 117 Squadron.[7] The report did not give 110 Squadron's formal closure date.

In 2023, it was reported that the Air Force had decided to reopen 110 Squadron as its third stealth-fighter squadron, based at Tel Nof rather than Nevatim.[8] The report described a future plan and did not establish that the squadron had already reopened or become operational.