Avihu Ben-Nun ( he, אביהו בן-נון; born 24 December 1939) was the 11th commander of 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 Defense ...

between 1987 and 1992.

Biography

Ben-Nun enlisted in the

in 1957 and became a fighter pilot. In 1963 he began flying the

Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...

, yet on the eve of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

became deputy commander of 116 "Defenders of the South" squadron, flying

Dassault Mystere Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son Ser ...

s. He assumed temporary command of the squadron after its commander was forced to eject early in the war. After the war he was assigned to 119 Squadron, which at the time was based at

Tel Nof Airbase 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 seve ...

. In July 1967 Ben-Nun shot down an Egyptian

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickna ...

over the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

, and another in October 1967. In March 1969 Ben-Nun was one of the first airmen assigned to fly the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

. In September 1969 he became commander of 69 Squadron, which he commanded throughout the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition ( ar, حرب الاستنزاف, Ḥarb al-Istinzāf; he, מלחמת ההתשה, Milhemet haHatashah) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from ...

. In the course of the war, Ben-Nun led the Phantom contingent that participated in

operation Rimon 20 Rimon 20 ( he, רימון 20, ''Pomegranate 20'') was the code name of an aerial battle in 1970 which pitted the Israeli Air Force directly against Soviet fighter pilots stationed in Egypt during the War of Attrition. Israel planned the dogfight ...

and shot down a Russian MiG-21 operating from Egypt. On September 9, 1972, a month after handing command of 69 Squadron to Amnon Arad, Ben-Nun and navigator Zvi Kesler shot down a Syrian

Sukhoi Su-7 The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...

. During the Yom Kippur War Ben-Nun was in charge of the Air Force's offensive operations command, yet flew eight operational sorties with his former squadron. In 1975 Ben-Nun was put in charge of Tactical Operations in the Israeli Air Force's Headquarters. Between 1977 and 1982 he commanded

Hatzor Airbase Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base ( he, בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר חָצוֹר) , also titled Kanaf 4 (''lit.'' Wing 4) is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named. ...

and

. In 1982 Ben-Nun headed the Operations Department of the Israeli Air Force. In 1983 he was put in charge of building operations within the IAF. In 1985 headed the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

Planning Directorate The Planning Directorate was the central body in the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff whose focus was on the strategic and tactical planning, the building of military forces, and military organization of the armed forces. It also served as a pla ...

, and was promoted to the rank of

Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral. ...

. In September 1987 he became Commander of the

, replacing Amos Lapidot. Under his aegis the IAF begun operating the

AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vis ...

and took delivery of additional

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

s. At the same time, the IAF carried out 500 operations against

terrorist groups A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

based in Lebanon. In 1992 Ben-Nun handed command of the Israeli Air Force over to

Herzl Bodinger Aluf (ret.) Herzl Bodinger ( he, הרצל בודינגר; born 1943) is a retired general in the Israel Defense Forces and a former Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force. Today, Bodinger is member of the International Board of Governors of ...

, resigning from the IDF. In 1995 Ben-Nun was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Nun, Avihu 1939 births Israeli Jews Israeli Air Force generals Living people