5601 Squadron, also known as Manat ( he, מנ"ט, an acronym for ''Merkaz Nisu'ey Tisa'', he, מרכז ניסויי טיסה, lit. ''Flight Test Center''), is the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

unit responsible for flight and weapons testing, airframe modification and avionics integration. Although formed in 1978, Manat may have its origins in a flight test unit established as early as March 1950. Based at

Tel Nof Tel Nof Israeli Air Force ( he, בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר תֵּל נוֹף) , also known as Air Force Base 8, is one of three principal airbases of the Israeli Air Force. It is located near Rehovot, Israel. Tel Nof houses sev ...

, Manat comprises a flight section, including test pilots and flight testing engineers, a technical section charged with aircraft maintenance, an avionics section, and a UAV section operating from

Palmachim Palmachim ( he, פַּלְמַחִים) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about ten kilometers south of the Tel Aviv area along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, among the sand dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gan Raveh Region ...

. The squadron operates a fully instrumented example of every Israeli Air Force frontline combat aircraft type on strength at any time. It also operates a number of UAVs and will utilize helicopter and transport types from other squadrons when necessary. Among the aircraft currently operated by Manat are three F-16 Fighting Falcons, representing the different variants of the aircraft in service: F-16D Block 30 #020, F-16D Block 40 #601 and

F-16I A large number of variants of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon have been produced by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and various licensed manufacturers. The details of the F-16 variants, along with major modification programs and ...

Block 52+ #401. F-16D #601, designated CK-1, was designed by Lockheed to meet specific flight test requirements. Another aircraft operated by the squadron is

F-15I 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 ...

#201 (94-0286), the very first F-15I built. Manat has also participated in the evaluation of foreign aircraft types, including the Syrian

MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...

whose pilot defected to Israel in October 1989 and a pair of MiG-29s loaned from a European air force in 1995. During its stay in Israel, one of the MiG-29s even carried the squadron emblem. The squadron works closely with Israel's defence industries and participates in product testing. Among the projects the squadron was involved with are the various Python missiles, the Popeye II, and the

Rafael Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

Spice.Weiss and Koren, p. 85.

External links

Flight Test Center photo gallery by Nir Ben-Yosef

References

{{Israeli Air Force Squadrons Israeli Air Force squadrons

See also

External links

References