Palmachim Airbase

Palmachim Airbase (Hebrew: בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר פַּלְמַחִים, ICAO: LLPL) is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base and spaceport, which the IAF and the Israel Space Agency (ISA) operate jointly. It is located west of the city of Yavne on the Mediterranean coast, 12 km south of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with Tel Aviv, named after the Kibbutz Palmachim a few hundred meters to the north. There are no fighter jets stationed there, but transport helicopters, UAVs and a battery of Arrow defense missiles southeast of it.

The airbase was established in the second half of the 1960s by (later commander of the IAF) Benny Peled. The area was initially used to test rockets and projectiles by the 151 Squadron for missile testing, with the test items being fired towards the sea.^{[citation needed]}

Because of their location on the airbase they were then called the "Northern Cobra" and "Southern Cobra" Squadron (see map also). In 2013, both Cobra squadrons were finally decommissioned.

The 124 Squadron "Rolling Sword" was founded in the 1950s at Tel Nof Airbase as the first helicopter squadron in Israel and flew, among others, the Sikorsky S-55 from 1956 and the slightly larger Sikorsky S-58 from 1958. In 1962, the then German Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauß sold 24 modern S-58 to Israel, which were then supplemented and finally replaced by Bell 205 (UH-1D/H) helicopters from the end of the 1960s, as some S-58 had been lost in the Six-Day War in 1967. However, as the single-engine Bell 205 increasingly had problems in the desert climate – and many did not survive the Yom Kippur War in 1973 – they were replaced by Bell 212 (UH-1N) helicopters, which had two turbines and were therefore more powerful and more durable. In 1981, the helicopter squadron moved to Palmachim with its Bell 212 machines.

Currently (2025), two squadrons of UH-60 Black Hawk Yanshuf are stationed at the base (see also under "Units"). These are used for troop transport as well as for rescue missions by Unit 669 - heliborne Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR), which is based both on Tel Nof Airbase with its CH-53D Sea Stallion Yasʿur there and on Palmachim with its Black Hawk.

During 2026, 193 Squadron "Defenders of the West" will reopen at Palmachim. It was closed on 31 August 2025, at Ramat David Airbase, and at that time flew several Eurocopter AS565 Panther Atalef maritime patrol, maritime surveillance, and SAR helicopters for the Israeli Navy. Upon reopening, it will be equipped with eight SH-60 Seahawk, which were purchased by the IAF and Navy from the US Navy stocks in 2015. These were extensively converted and equipped with Israeli systems.

Israel was an early adopter of drone development and became one of the leading nations in this field alongside the USA. The Palmachim Airbase played a special role in this. The 200 Squadron "First UAV" was founded here in 1971 and initially used US drones such as the Ryan Firebee Mabat and the Northrop BQM-74 Chukar Telem. But in the course of the 1970s, Israel developed its own models such as the Tadiran Mastiff, the IAI Scout Oriole and later the AAI RQ-2 Pioneer and IAI Searcher Hugla, all of which were used for reconnaissance flights – especially over contested areas.

From the mid-1990s, testing and introduction of the IAI Heron 1 Shoval UAV began, shortly afterwards of the Elbit Hermes 450 Zik and finally from 2009 of its successor Hermes 900 Kochav, each by its own squadron. From this point onwards, UAVs were no longer used solely for reconnaissance flights by the IAF, but also for firing guided missiles, something which was not officially confirmed for a long time. But the USAF was able to do it from 1995 onwards with its MQ-1 Predator, and so did Israel not long after with its UAVs.