ISRAEL MATZAV: IAF drilling to continue airbase operations under misssile attack

Fearing missile attacks by Hezbullah and/or Hamas, the IAF has more than doubled the number of drills it conducts for operating its bases while under attack, and it has developed specific answers for scenarios like a missile falling on a runway.

At the Hatzor IAF base, for example, airmen have carried out 25 drills since the beginning of the year, compared to just 12 last year. The drills vary and include scenarios that involve missile attacks on the base’s runway, living quarters and plane storage facilities.

The increase in training stems from intelligence assessments that in a future conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s air force bases will be targeted.

During Operation Cast Lead last year, a number of rockets were fired in the direction of Hatzor, which is located near Gedera, as well as at Hatzerim, near Beersheba. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hizbullah also tried to target the Ramat David base in the north.

“We do not have other bases that we can just move our aircraft to, and we need to learn how to continue operating as rockets and missiles are landing in the base,” a senior IAF officer who serves as a base commander told the Post.

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The main concern is that a missile could hit a runway. To deal with such a scenario, the IAF has established specially trained teams that are capable of fixing holes in runways within a matter of minutes. These teams have already deployed mounds of material needed at different places alongside the runways.

I've been in Israel for 19 years, and I don't remember ever hearing sustained talk of war preparations like I have heard in the last several months.

Over the summer, an acquaintance who had finished his last reserve duty (due to age) called to tell me that the army had given them a complete rundown of what to expect in case of war. It's coming folks. Pray for us.