Palmachim: an airbase within a nature reserve

Housed within a nature reserve, approximately 5,000 service members are stationed at the base southwest of Rishon Legion, which until recently was commanded by a Brigadier-General. Yo Amiram.

Jerusalem Post Met Amirram on his last day as base commander and spoke with him about the changes he had seen throughout his career – from a more technical Air Force to a more inclusive Army.

Amiram, who served in the IAF for nearly 30 years, was trained as a helicopter pilot and flew on several different platforms before being appointed to command roles and then as Palamahim Base Commander for the last three years. .

“Everything is very different from when I started, and technology has had a big impact,” he said. “Twenty years ago we were really far from the capabilities that we have in the Indian Air Force today. Today, there is a lot more technology, but in the end, the responsibility you are given is still the same. “

Palmahim was established over 50 years ago as a missile and satellite test base and is one of the only places in Israel where satellites are launched into space.

Like Israel’s air force, the satellite industry is a major component of the Jewish state’s strategic military capabilities. They are the real eyes in the sky, keeping a close eye on Israel’s enemies 24/7 from afar.

Last July, the Ofek 16 satellite was launched into orbit using a Chavit launcher – which according to foreign reports is used to launch Jericho ballistic missiles. It later sent back several images, including one from the Syrian city of Palmyra, where Iranian forces are known to operate.

The fact that Israel is one of 13 countries with satellite-launch capabilities is not a given. And the launch alone is a great achievement in itself – it is carried out to the west, against the rotation of the Earth, so that its trajectory takes over the Mediterranean Sea to avoid any enemy territory during the launch period.

As a result of the westward launch, OFEC satellites operate in retrograde orbits and reduce the payload capacity of the launcher, as more thrust is required to put the satellite into orbit than if it flew east.

“It is amazing to see that such a small country has the capability to launch satellites,” Amiram said. “Israeli satellites are the smallest in the world but the strongest in terms of capabilities. But this is something that has to be worked up to another and precise millimeter. It’s not easy.”

But the eyes aren’t the only satellites in the sky that fly in from Palamahim.

Over the past decade, the IAF’s operational use of drones has grown tremendously, with almost every operation now seeing the use of these devices.

IAF drone squadrons fly approximately 80% of all IAF flight hours, and 70% of all IAF flight hours fly from the base, with four drone squadrons based at Palmahim AFB.

Drones played an important and integral role in Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, most of which took off from Palamahim. According to IDF data, 643 missions were carried out by drones during a total of 132.6 flight hours during 11 days of fighting with terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

According to Amiram, the IDF’s Momentum Multiair plan had a significant impact on the fighting, including drone units, which were an important part of real-time intelligence gathering.

With the Army Drone School located in Palamahim, operators learn how to fly and maintain these aircraft, where many of them will operate.

“We train them to be fighters from the sky,” he said, adding that “operators are in battle, maybe not physically, but they are an integral part of the battlefield and make an immediate impact.”

While they are not manned, it is always the men or women on the ground who make the final decision. A growing trend, in the world of remotely operated aircraft (RPA) is the constant dilemma of collateral damage while maintaining mission safety.

And unlike American drone operators, which operate widely thousands of kilometers from the battlefield, the fact that these operators are based in Palmahim goes home to the point that they can defend their families, friends and the country. are doing.

“When You’re in Palmahim and Tjewa Edom” [red alert] The siren sounds at the base and at their parents’ house, they know they are guarding their homes. But it is not simple. Because drone operators see everything. if people get hurt [by an airstrike], they look at.”

Anyone visiting the beach at the Palamahim Nature Reserve needs only look out their window to see missile defense batteries protecting civilians and infrastructure.

The larger airport is also home to the Air Defense Division of the Indian Air Force, which is in charge of the country’s comprehensive protective umbrella that counters mounting missile threats.

These include the Iron Dome, which is designed to shoot down short-range rockets, the Arrow (Arrow-2 and Arrow-3) systems, which intercept ballistic missiles outside Earth’s atmosphere, and the new operational David Keys. The Sling missile defense system, which is designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, medium to long-range rockets, as well as cruise missiles fired at ranges between 40 and 300 km.

Israel has three American-made Patriot System batteries, a long-range, all-altitude defense system to counter strategic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

Also at the base are IAF’s Shaldag Special Forces Unit (one of the IDF’s most elite units), 123rd Black Hawk Squadron, IAF’s 7th Wing (New Special Operations Wing), Army Drone School, a simulator squadron for RPA Is. Helicopters and much more.

“After the initial shock of getting here, you can understand the potential of this base,” Amiram said. “There’s air force, ground forces, navy, defense companies… There’s a lot of diversity in Palamahim.”

But it is not just the military platform that propelled Amiram to take pride in the base on which he commanded, it was the social inclusion and the school at the base that made his eyes shine.

Right next to the Drone School is the ATID Palamahim Vocational High School for 300 at-risk teens who are mentored by soldiers. Many of them, Amiram said, then draft into professional technical positions in the military.

Another program based on Aadhaar is Special in Uniform, which helps bring youth with autism and other disabilities to volunteer in 20 locations across the country. There are 50-60 volunteers from the program in Palamahim.

“It’s so worthwhile, and what volunteers bring to the base is incredible,” he said. “When soldiers are working closely with special needs volunteers, they are much more aware and see the world differently.”

For Amiram, during his 30 years of service, the IDF was not only a defense of the country, but a central component to Israeli society, and being able to better youth during his service was a part of his role as commander. was an important aspect.

“We need to make our society better, we need to be like that,” he said. “Maybe we may not reach everyone but we need to reach as many people as possible. Everyone has equal opportunity here. It is our good fortune that we should take advantage of it or else we will miss out. “