King Khalid Air Base (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: قاعدة الملك خالد الجوية) (KKAB) is an airbase of

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, ‎الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...

(RSAF) sited in the south-west of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, near

Khamis Mushait Khamis Mushayt or Khamis Mushait ( ar, خميس مشيط, ') is a city in south-west Saudi Arabia, located east of Abha, the provincial seat of the 'Asir Province, 650 nautical miles from Dhahran and from the national capital of Riyadh. It is t ...

History

The airbase, with code KMX, has a paved runway without customs facilities. The base was designed and built by the Dutch company Ballast Nedam for BAE in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and has

McDonnell Douglas F-15 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 ...

service facilities.

Gulf war

During the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in 1991, the USAF had a base here from which they launched F-117 stealth fighter from the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing on

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, and other high priority targets in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. On the opening night of the war

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

tankers from

No. 101 Squadron RAF No. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Airbus Voyager in the air-to-air refuelling and transport roles from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. History Formation and early years 101 Squadron RFC was formed at Farnborough on 12 July 1 ...

launched here refueled

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...

GR1s. The RSAF forces included the newly formed 66th Squadron with Tornado GR1 aircraft and immediately post Gulf war 1 they took delivery of the RSAF GR1a Reconnaissance versions supported by the 66th Squadron Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (RIC). Later in the 1990s a second Tornado GR1 Squadron formed - 83rd Squadron.

Current use

* RSAF Wing 5: **No. 6 Squadron RSAF with McDonnell Douglas F-15SA Strike Eagles **No. 55 Squadron RSAF with F-15SA Strike Eagles **No. 99 Squadron RSAF with the Eurocopter AS532M Cougar **No. 14 Squadron RSAF Detachment with the

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King Khalid Air Base 1960 establishments in Saudi Arabia Royal Saudi Air Force Military installations of Saudi Arabia

History

Gulf war

Current use

See also

References