Al Dhafra Air Base ( ar, قاعدة الظفرة الجوية) is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates. The base is located approximately south of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

and is operated by the United Arab Emirates Air Force.

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the ''arith ...

. It has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, ...

s, 13L/31R and 13R/31L, each having an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface measuring .

Role and operations

United Arab Emirates Air Force

The airbase is the headquarters of the Western Air Command of the United Arab Emirates Air Force. It hosts the UAE Air Force Fighter Wing, comprising the 1st Shaheen Squadron, 2nd Shaheen Squadron, and 3rd Shaheen Squadron which is equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-16E/F Desert Falcon). The base is also home to the 71st and 76th Fighter Squadrons which operate the Dassault Mirage 2000-9EAD/DAD.

Military intervention against ISIL

United States

Two R-11 fuel trucks refuel an E-3 Sentry of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing

Al Dhafra hosts the United States Air Force's

380th Air Expeditionary Wing The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing (380 AEW) is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is attached to the United States Air Forces Central Command component of ACC and is stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, Uni ...

(380 AEW), which was established at the base on 25 January 2002. The 380 AEW's mission is to carry out combat operations to provide high-altitude all-weather intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, airborne command and control and air-refueling for the military intervention against ISIL/ISIS (known by the US military as Operation Inherent Resolve) and NATO led operations in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

( Operation Resolute Support). The wing is known to have operated the

F-15C Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

F-15E Strike Eagle The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relyi ...

F-22A Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

, KC-10A Extender, E-3 Sentry (AWACS) U-2S Dragon Lady and EQ-4 and RQ-4 Global Hawk. The first USAF F-35 Lightning II deployed to the Middle East was deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base in April 2019. The US military presence at the base was only acknowledged officially by the US Air Force in August 2017, despite the US military being present since the early 1990s. As of 2020, contractor activity at Al Dhafra on behalf of the US military includes Abacus Technology Corp. information technology, Centurum information technology, and construction projects.

France

On 1 September 2008 the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army ...

opened their own

military settlement Military settlements (russian: Военные поселения) represented a special organization of the Russian military forces in 1810–1857, which allowed the combination of military service and agricultural employment. The beginning of ...

within the northwest corner of the base operating Dassault Mirage 2000-5Fs. Also due to the military intervention against ISIL/ISIS, the French have also deployed Breguet Atlantique II maritime patrol aircraft as part of Opération Chammal.

Based units

Notable units based at Al Dhafra Air Base.

United Arab Emirates Air Force

Western Air Command * Fighter Wing ** 71 Squadron – Mirage 2000-9EAD/9DAD ** 76 Squadron – Mirage 2000-9EAD/9DAD ** 1st ''Shaheen'' Squadron – F-16E/F Desert Falcon ** 2nd ''Shaheen'' Squadron – F-16E/F Desert Falcon ** 3rd ''Shaheen'' Squadron – F-16E/F Desert Falcon

French Air and Space Force

(Al Dhafra 'Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Pijeaud' Air Base) * Escadron de Chasse 1/7 Provence with the Dassault Rafale from June 2016. ** Previously *** Escadron de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes with the Dassault Mirage 2000-5F (2008-2010) ***

Escadron de Chasse 3/30 Lorraine The ''Escadron de Chasse 3/30 Lorraine'' ("fighter Squadron 3/30 Lorraine") is a fighter Squadron of the French Air and Space Force (''Armée de l'air et de l'espace'') located at BA 118 Mont-de-Marsan Air Base which flies the Dassault Rafale C ...

with the Rafale (2010-2016)

United States Air Force

Air Combat Command Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and i ...

* US Air Forces Central Command ** Air Forces Central Air Warfare Center **

***

380th Expeditionary Operations Group The 380th Expeditionary Operations Group) is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. It is a provisional unit stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, and is assigned to th ...

**** Various Expeditionary Fighter Squadrons –

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, t ...

, F-35A Lightning II **** 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron –

U-2 Dragon Lady The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...

**** 380th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron **** 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron – KC-10A Extender **** 968th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron – E-3 Sentry *** 380th Air Expeditionary Maintenance Group **** 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron *** 380th Air Expeditionary Mission Support Group **** 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Communications Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron *** 380th Air Expeditionary Medical Squadron ** 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group *** 577th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron *** 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron The 380th AEW is also known to operate the EQ-4B and RQ-4B Global Hawk.

United States Army

US Army Forces Command *

32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade The 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade is an air defense artillery brigade of the United States Army stationed at Fort Bliss. Structure The brigades includes a Headquarters and Headquarters battery, 4 Patriot Units and 3 Terminal High Altitude ...

*** 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment **** 1st Battalion –

MIM-104 Patriot The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar compon ...

Attacks against the base

On 24 January 2022, the base was targeted by

Houthi The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

Zulfiqar ballistic missiles, due to the UAE's involvement in the ongoing Yemeni Civil War. Two missiles aimed at the base were intercepted and destroyed by US Patriot missiles coincident to efforts by the

United Arab Emirates Armed Forces The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces ( ar, القوات المسلحة لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة, Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa li-Dawlat al-ʾImārāt al-ʿArabīyyah al-Muttaḥidah) are the armed forces of the Unit ...

References

External links

Al Dhafra Air Base
at GlobalSecurity.org *

at OSGEOINT {{authority control United Arab Emirates Air Force bases French Air and Space Force bases Installations of the United States Air Force France–United Arab Emirates relations United Arab Emirates–United States relations