King Faisal Air Base (Jordan)
King Faisal Air Base | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
مجموعة الملك فيصل بن عبد العزيز الجوية | |||||||
| Near Al-Jafr, Ma'an Governorate in Jordan | |||||||
 A U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules takes off from King Faisal Air Base during Exercise Eager Lion, June 2013 | |||||||
  King Faisal Air Base Shown within Jordan | |||||||
| Coordinates | 30°20.589′N 036°08.856′E / 30.343150°N 36.147600°E | ||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Operator | Royal Jordanian Air Force | ||||||
| Website | King Faisal Air Base | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1974–1981 | ||||||
| In use | 1981–present | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: OJKF | ||||||
| Elevation | 873 metres (2,864 ft) AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
| Sources: AIP Jordan,[1] TPC H-5B[2] | |||||||
King Faisal Air Base (ICAO: OJKF; Arabic: مجموعة الملك فيصل بن عبد العزيز الجوية) is a Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) installation near the town of Al-Jafr, Ma'an Governorate.
Name
[edit]The installation is named for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who financed the base's construction.[3]
History
[edit]Construction for the base began in 1974, with the first aircraft landing on 27 November 1980. The base was officially opened by King Hussein of Jordan on 24 June 1981.[3]
A 1983 report indicated that the base was used to assemble parts of Chinese Shenyang J-6 fighter aircraft for subsequent delivery to Iraq.[4]
In 1987, Syrian president Hafez Assad and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein flew to the base to have a meeting in the nearby town Al-Jafr amidst the Iran–Iraq War.[5]
In October 1996, the airfield was used by an Antonov An-124 to fly in the ThrustSSC jet car for testing in the desert near Al-Jafr.[6]
On 4 November 2016, a Jordanian guard shot and killed three American soldiers and wounded another while they were returning to the base. The 39-year-old Jordanian assailant was sentenced to life in prison for the murders.[7]
Exercises
[edit]
The base frequently hosts military exercises,[3][8] a practice going back as far as the 1980s. Among the exercises that have been hosted at the base are Exercise Bright Star and Exercise Eager Lion.[9][10][11]
References
[edit]
- ^ "AIP Jordan Supplement 2/20, Location Indicators" (PDF). Jordan Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission. 16 July 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ TPC H-5B (JPG) (Aeronautical map) (5th ed.). 1:500,000. Tactical Pilotage Chart. United Kingdom: Ministry of Defence. 1991 – via Perry–Castañeda Library.
- ^ a b c "King Feisal Air Base". Royal Jordanian Air Force. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Chapin Metz, Helen, ed. (1991). Jordan: A Country Study (PDF) (4th ed.). Federal Research Division. pp. 264–265. Retrieved 22 February 2024 – via Library of Congress.
- ^ Anderson, Jack; Van Atta, Dale (9 June 1987). "Syrian, Iraqi Leaders Confer At Last". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ "Greene readies for speed try". The Post-Star. 27 October 1996. p. D2. Retrieved 22 February 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Philipps, Dave; Hubbard, Ben (25 July 2017). "U.S. Soldier Who Survived Shootout in Jordan Tells His Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Heighton, Craig (28 July 1995). "Shaw team trains with Jordanians". Panama City Gulf Defender. p. 11.
- ^ "Jordan, U.S. complete maneuvers". Sun Journal. 21 September 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Fisher, Robert (5 June 2012). "24th MEU Air Traffic Controllers Run the Tower during Exercise Eager Lion 12". 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
- ^ Collins, Tiffany (19 May 2015). "Eager Lion 2015 is a first for Jordan's Strategic Air Deployment". U.S. Special Operations Command Central. Retrieved 24 February 2024 – via DVIDS.
