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69 Squadron (Israel)
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69 Squadron (Israel)
The 69 "Hammers" Squadron is an Israeli Air Force squadron operating the F-15I Thunder out of Hatzerim. It was formed in July 1948 to operate three B-17 Flying Fortresses which the fledgling Israeli Air Force had acquired in the United States. The squadron flew the Flying Fortress, an aircraft credited with propelling the IAF into the realm of modern aerial warfare, during both the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and 1956 Suez Crisis. Disbanded in early 1957, 69 Squadron reformed in 1969 to fly the F-4 Phantom II.
69 Squadron operated the Kurnass (Sledgehammer), as the Phantom was known in Israel, for 25 years. Its Phantoms saw extensive action during the War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, First Lebanon War and numerous engagements in between. The squadron often played a central role in IAF suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) efforts and took part in repeated battles against Egyptian and Syrian air defence.
The squadron retired its Phantoms in 1994 and reformed shortly thereafter to operate the F-15I Thunder. Described as the "long-range, heavy bombing element of Israeli air power", 69 Squadron, together with Squadrons 119 and 253, carried out Operation Outside the Box, the September 2007 airstrike on a nuclear site in Syria.
In early 1948, before the establishment of the State of Israel, the Haganah ordered three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress planes from the United States through US Mahal operative Al Schwimmer, circumventing a US arms embargo during the 1948 Palestine war. Two were demilitarised and modified for freighter use by Aerodex Inc. of Miami, then sold unknowingly to a front company that said they would be used in the Caribbean. The first two departed the city on June 12, followed a day later by a third, and made their way first to Puerto Rico and then across the Atlantic via the Azores to Žatec, Czechoslovakia, where they arrived on June 14.
By June 16 the story had made it to the press and a fourth plane, whose crew only barely managed to elude the FBI, was impounded in the Azores by Portuguese authorities. At Žatec the three B-17s, missing bomb shackles and sights, oxygen systems and defensive weapons, were militarized and the squadron that was to operate them, at the time referred to as the "Hammers Program", first took shape. Ray Kurtz, a former B-17 navigator with 31 missions over Europe, was assigned command of the squadron, staffed by an international crew of World War II veterans who volunteered to fight for Israel. Robert Luttrell, a sailor by trade, flying as a bombardier, recalled that for each mission the B-17s were given new markings and their armament was altered to lead the enemy to believe Israel possessed an entire squadron of the type.
On July 15, 1948, one of the B-17 planes, recently put in the service of the Israeli Air Force, flew to Cairo and bombarded a residential neighborhood near Qasr al-Qubba, killing 30 Egyptians breaking their Ramadan fast and striking a rail line, in an operation that intended to bomb King Farouq's Abdeen Palace. With fighting raging in Israel and Tel Aviv suffering from Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) raids, the three B-17s departed Žatec for Israel. Still ill-equipped, the bombers were tasked with bombing Egyptian targets en route. Flying south along the Adriatic, near Crete the bombers separated, with Bill Katz and Ray Kurtz taking the only Fortress with an oxygen system and a proper sight to bomb the Royal Palace in Cairo, and the other two B-17s heading towards the REAF base at El-Arish. While Katz and Kurtz successfully bombed the Abdeen Palace, the other two failed to locate their target and bombed Rafah instead. All landed that evening at Tel Nof.
The three aircraft were back in action at 06:30 on the next day, hitting the REAF base at El-Arish they had missed the previous night. As Tel-Nof was deemed vulnerable to Egyptian attacks, the aircraft then landed at Ramat David, which housed the squadron for the remainder of the war. In the following days, until a UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect on July 18, the Fortresses struck across three fronts, attacking Majdal, Damascus and Tulkarm. Raising the average bomb load of an IAF sortie from 100 kg per sortie to 743 kg per sortie, the B-17s are credited with propelling the Israeli Air Force into the realm of modern aerial warfare.
All three bombers flew in support of Operation Shoter on July 20. Combat operations then ceased until October 1948. These three months saw the unit reorganize and by August it had received its official designation as 69 Squadron. With Bill Katz now in command, the squadron spent the truce training, qualifying new airmen and equipping the veteran aircraft. Fighting resumed on October 15 with Operation Yoav, aimed with breaking the Egyptian siege of the Negev. Over the next week the Hammers flew 47 sorties against Egyptian targets in and around Majdal, Gaza, El Arish, Al-Faluja, and Rafah. Missions were flown in either a trio or a pair to maximize defensive firepower, and sometimes with 101 Squadron escorts, but no enemy fighters were ever encountered. In late October a number of sorties were flown against Tarshiha, in the Upper Galilee, in support of Operation Hiram against Fawzi al-Qawuqji's Arab Liberation Army.
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69 Squadron (Israel)
The 69 "Hammers" Squadron is an Israeli Air Force squadron operating the F-15I Thunder out of Hatzerim. It was formed in July 1948 to operate three B-17 Flying Fortresses which the fledgling Israeli Air Force had acquired in the United States. The squadron flew the Flying Fortress, an aircraft credited with propelling the IAF into the realm of modern aerial warfare, during both the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and 1956 Suez Crisis. Disbanded in early 1957, 69 Squadron reformed in 1969 to fly the F-4 Phantom II.
69 Squadron operated the Kurnass (Sledgehammer), as the Phantom was known in Israel, for 25 years. Its Phantoms saw extensive action during the War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, First Lebanon War and numerous engagements in between. The squadron often played a central role in IAF suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) efforts and took part in repeated battles against Egyptian and Syrian air defence.
The squadron retired its Phantoms in 1994 and reformed shortly thereafter to operate the F-15I Thunder. Described as the "long-range, heavy bombing element of Israeli air power", 69 Squadron, together with Squadrons 119 and 253, carried out Operation Outside the Box, the September 2007 airstrike on a nuclear site in Syria.
In early 1948, before the establishment of the State of Israel, the Haganah ordered three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress planes from the United States through US Mahal operative Al Schwimmer, circumventing a US arms embargo during the 1948 Palestine war. Two were demilitarised and modified for freighter use by Aerodex Inc. of Miami, then sold unknowingly to a front company that said they would be used in the Caribbean. The first two departed the city on June 12, followed a day later by a third, and made their way first to Puerto Rico and then across the Atlantic via the Azores to Žatec, Czechoslovakia, where they arrived on June 14.
By June 16 the story had made it to the press and a fourth plane, whose crew only barely managed to elude the FBI, was impounded in the Azores by Portuguese authorities. At Žatec the three B-17s, missing bomb shackles and sights, oxygen systems and defensive weapons, were militarized and the squadron that was to operate them, at the time referred to as the "Hammers Program", first took shape. Ray Kurtz, a former B-17 navigator with 31 missions over Europe, was assigned command of the squadron, staffed by an international crew of World War II veterans who volunteered to fight for Israel. Robert Luttrell, a sailor by trade, flying as a bombardier, recalled that for each mission the B-17s were given new markings and their armament was altered to lead the enemy to believe Israel possessed an entire squadron of the type.
On July 15, 1948, one of the B-17 planes, recently put in the service of the Israeli Air Force, flew to Cairo and bombarded a residential neighborhood near Qasr al-Qubba, killing 30 Egyptians breaking their Ramadan fast and striking a rail line, in an operation that intended to bomb King Farouq's Abdeen Palace. With fighting raging in Israel and Tel Aviv suffering from Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) raids, the three B-17s departed Žatec for Israel. Still ill-equipped, the bombers were tasked with bombing Egyptian targets en route. Flying south along the Adriatic, near Crete the bombers separated, with Bill Katz and Ray Kurtz taking the only Fortress with an oxygen system and a proper sight to bomb the Royal Palace in Cairo, and the other two B-17s heading towards the REAF base at El-Arish. While Katz and Kurtz successfully bombed the Abdeen Palace, the other two failed to locate their target and bombed Rafah instead. All landed that evening at Tel Nof.
The three aircraft were back in action at 06:30 on the next day, hitting the REAF base at El-Arish they had missed the previous night. As Tel-Nof was deemed vulnerable to Egyptian attacks, the aircraft then landed at Ramat David, which housed the squadron for the remainder of the war. In the following days, until a UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect on July 18, the Fortresses struck across three fronts, attacking Majdal, Damascus and Tulkarm. Raising the average bomb load of an IAF sortie from 100 kg per sortie to 743 kg per sortie, the B-17s are credited with propelling the Israeli Air Force into the realm of modern aerial warfare.
All three bombers flew in support of Operation Shoter on July 20. Combat operations then ceased until October 1948. These three months saw the unit reorganize and by August it had received its official designation as 69 Squadron. With Bill Katz now in command, the squadron spent the truce training, qualifying new airmen and equipping the veteran aircraft. Fighting resumed on October 15 with Operation Yoav, aimed with breaking the Egyptian siege of the Negev. Over the next week the Hammers flew 47 sorties against Egyptian targets in and around Majdal, Gaza, El Arish, Al-Faluja, and Rafah. Missions were flown in either a trio or a pair to maximize defensive firepower, and sometimes with 101 Squadron escorts, but no enemy fighters were ever encountered. In late October a number of sorties were flown against Tarshiha, in the Upper Galilee, in support of Operation Hiram against Fawzi al-Qawuqji's Arab Liberation Army.