Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base
| Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°29′01″N 045°45′21″E / 32.48361°N 45.75583°E |
Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Wasit Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Overview
Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base was one of several Iraqi Air Force airfields in the mid-1970s which were re-built under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.
Originally, 13 airfields were re-built by British contractors, and on all of them also a number of hardened aircraft shelters was built. Subsequently companies from Yugoslavia - previously engaged in building bridges in Iraq - became involved. Due to their specific construction of these airfields - which included taxi-ways leading right out of Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) and laid diagonally to the runways - they became known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos".
The facilities were divided into two categories: "surface" and "underground". The "surface" facilities were actually the "softest", and included maintenance hangars of metal construction, and HAS of concrete construction. In total, the Yugoslavs have built no less but 200 HAS on different airfields in Iraq during the 1980s.
The protection of each HAS consisted of one meter thick concrete shells, reinforced by 30 cm thick steel plates. There was only one entrance and this was covered by sliding doors, made of 50 cm thick steel armoured plate and concrete. The HAS' were usually built in small groups - seldom more than five, with each group sharing the same water and power supply, besides having own backup gasoline-powered electrical generator, and each HAS being equipped with a semi-automatic aircraft-refuelling system.
In addition, underground facilities that could shelter between four and ten aircraft on average were constructed. In order to build these the Yugoslavs used equipment and construction techniques identical to that use in underground oil-storage depots, additionally concealing the extension and the true purpose of the whole project. The underground facilities were all hardened to withstand a direct hit by a tactical nuclear bomb, buried up to 50 meters below the ground and consisted of the main aircraft "hangar" (consisting of two floors in several cases, connected by 40ts hydraulic lifts), connected with operations, maintenance, and logistical facilities via a net of underground corridors.
Under Iraqi Air Force control, was a base for a full wing with three squadrons of Su-20/22s and a squadron of MiG-21s or MiG-23s for air defence. It was heavily hit by the RAF in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm, but was repaired subsequently and it remained a Su-22 base in the 1990s as well.
It was relatively undamaged despite additional hits during the 1990s and during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The base was abandoned by Iraqi forces and was used by United States Army or Marine helicopter forces after its seizure. Current aerial photography shows many abandoned buildings on the former air base, however the runway and taxiways are intact with a standing hangar on one of the parking ares. Its current use is undetermined.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.