On Tuesday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward the Zionist entity’s military and intelligence bases in a retaliatory attack, which set off sirens all over the occupied Palestinian territories.
Dubbed True Promise II, the operation came in response to the regime’s assassinations of Hamas’s politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan.
Given the fact that the Israeli regime has banned the local media from reporting about the targeted sites in the occupied territories, therefore Mehr report become highly relevant to shed light on the sites and their significance in Israeli regime military and intelligence structure.
The Mehr report sheds light on how the Zionist regime experienced a huge defeat in intercepting the Iranian missiles and the serious damges to its sites as could be seen in the recently released satellite images of those targets.
Mehr has obtained the names of five targets of Iranian missiles from its sources that were hit. They included airfields and security and intelligence bases: Nevatim Airbas; Hatzerim Airbase; Glilot base; Tel Nof Airbase; and Unit 555.
Nevatim Airbase (Hebrew: בסיס נבטים, English: sprouts) (IATA: VTM, ICAO: LLNV), also Air Force Base 28, is located 15 km east-southeast of Beersheba, near moshav Nevatim in the Negev desert. It is one of the largest in Israel and had three runways of different lengths. Stealth fighter jets, transport aircraft, tanker aircraft and machines for electronic reconnaissance/surveillance, as well as the Wing of Zion, are stationed there.
The airfield was also targeted in Iran's first retalaitory attack known as True Promise 1 on April 13, 2024. Its current condition is unclear as the Israeli regime does not allow media to go there and see it after Iran's True Promise II.
Satellite images of an aircraft hangar at the key Israeli military airbase appear to show a large hole in the roof, Times of Israel reported on Thursday.
Images of the Nevatim Airbase in southern occupied lands on Wednesday show the damage to the roof in a row of buildings near a runway. Large pieces of debris can be seen spread around the building, the Times added.
The 140 Squadron "Golden Eagle" operating A-4H/N Skyhawk Ayit and then F-16A/B Fighting Falcon Netz, was transferred from the abandoned Etzion Airbase over Ramon to Nevatim.
Since December 2016, new F-35I Adir (The Mighty One) fighter jets have been stationed at Nevatim. Israel buys them from a US manufacturer consortium around Lockheed Martin, modified according to its needs. A total of 75 of these stealth jets have been ordered so far, which are to be delivered by the end of the 2020s. This will fill up three squadrons, all of which are already set up at Nevatim and will reach full strength by that time. These are the 116 Squadron "Lions Of The South", the 117 Squadron "First Jet" and the 140 Squadron "Golden Eagle", all of which have a longer history on other bases and with other aircraft (see Units).
Parallel to the introduction of the F-35I, a flight simulator was also installed at Nevatim, which is intended to familiarize new pilots with the aircraft before they sit in the cockpit for the first time and to familiarize experienced pilots with combat situations without putting themselves in danger. After a year-long testing and training phase, Israel officially declared the base's first eight F-35Is operational at the beginning of December 2017.
The Boeing 707 Re'em tanker aircraft, which date back to the 1970s and have been stationed at Nevatim since 2008, will be gradually replaced by the newer Boeing KC-46A Pegasus.
Also, the 122 Squadron "Nachshon", which has existed since 1971, operates several Gulfstream jets in different configurations at Nevatim
Moreover, the Nevatim Airbase is also the home base of the so-called Israeli Air Force One, a converted Boeing 767 for international visits by the President of Israel or the Prime Minister. Officially called Wing of Zion, it is operated by the IAF and has its own hangar on Nevatim.
The airfield is also said to be home to some of Israeli regime's nuclear weapons. After the US Air Force announced in early March 2024 that its F-35 stealth jets are now certified for use with B61-12 atomic bombs, there is an increasing discussion about whether the Israeli F-35I Adir at Nevatim are also capable of transporting and dropping Israeli nuclear weapons. For this purpose, they would have to be stored on the base in specially secured bunkers.
While the media concluding from the satellite images said that the Nevatim Airbase did not suffer a lot in the first True Promise operation carried out by Iran in April, the media reported on Thursday, anmayzing the satellite images there was serious damgage to the site. Videos geolocated by CNN showed a significant number of Iranian missiles hitting the base.
Hatzerim Airbase (Hebrew: בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר חֲצֵרִים, Basis Heil HaAvir Hatzerim, lit. Homesteads) (ICAO: LLHB) is a base on the northern edge of the Negev desert in the Southern District of Israel, 6 km west of Beersheba, near kibbutz Hatzerim. Apart from operational fighter jets, it houses the Israeli Air Force(AIF) Flight Academy, the IAF Aerobatic Team and the IAF Museum.
After the base was opened, the IAF Flight Academy was relocated here from Tel Nof Airbase and has since then mainly used the northwestern part of the airfield and its runway for its propeller aircraft. Two-seat turboprop training aircraft, which are also flown by the IAF Aerobatic Team, are stationed on the much larger southern area with its three runways. The jet trainers are also located there, alongside operational IAF fighter jets. The northern area still has a heliport, but since the last helicopter squadron withdrew, it has only been used by the Flight Academy's training helicopters (see map).
The Flight Academy had already flown the French two-seater Fouga CM.170 Magister Tzukit at Tel Nof Airbase since 1960, which it kept for a total of 50 years in different variants until it was decommissioned in 2010 and was also flown by the Aerobatic Team during this time. These Hatzerim aircraft were also used during the Six-Day War to carry out attacks on enemy radar stations and anti-aircraft artillery and also did close air support (CAS).
It is home to 69 Squadron "Hammers" and 107 Squadron. In addition to two squadrons with operational fighter jets, the base also houses the IAF Flight Academy, the IAF Aerobatic Team and – outside the security area – the IAF Museum.
Hatzerim, beside Tel Nof Airbase, is believed to play a role in Israel's nuclear deterrence, as both bases are home to F-15 fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons over long distances. It is unknown whether such weapons are also stored at Hatzerim other than at Tel Nof and in the depots at Sdot Micha Airbase. However, the newer type of F-15I Ra'am, which is based at Hatzerim only, is better suited to carry these weapons than the older models of the F-15 at Tel Nof. The F-16I Sufa stationed here could also be intended for this purpose.
The 25 jets of the F-15I Ra'am from the "Hammers" Squadron on Hatzerim are to be upgraded from 2029 on as F-15I+ to the latest standard, they will receive the same avionics and systems as the new Boeing F-15EX Eagle II of the USAF.
Israeli military military and intelligence base of Glilot near Tel Aviv was the third target of the Iranian missiles in Operation True Promise II. It houses nit 8200 which is a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) unit in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). It was originally established as Shin Mim 2 during the 1930s under the British Mandate. Unit 8200 evolved from its modest beginnings into an intelligence and technological powerhouse within the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Initially tasked with phone eavesdropping in neighbouring regions, the unit underwent several name changes over the years. These changes reflect its evolving role and expanding capabilities.
The Gililot base is located in the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv and 110 kilometers from the Lebanese border.
On August 26, 2024, in a post on Hezbollah's attack on the Gillot base, various parts of it were shown in a video: "Military intelligence unit 8200 of the Gillot base was bombed today by Hezbollah, and the United States has expressed concern about its condition."
Tel Nof Airbase (Hebrew: בָּסִיס חֵיל-הַאֲוִויר תֵּל נוֹף, English: Lookout hill) (ICAO: LLEK), also known as Air Force Base 8, is the oldest and main base of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) located 5 km south of Rehovot. Tel Nof houses two strike fighter, two helicopter and a UAV squadron. Also located on the base are the Flight Test Center Manat and several special units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), among others Unit 669 (heliborne Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR)) and the Paratroopers Brigade training center and its headquarters.
Israeli regime is in possession of nuclear weapons since the late 1960s and they are stored at some point on Tel Nof in a specially secured area. Fighter aircraft that can carry such weapons over long distances, like the F-15 Eagle (see gallery below) and once the F-4E Phantom II (see picture above) have been on alert around the clock at the base since the 1970s. This form of deterrence was one of the lessons that Israel learned from the Yom Kippur War in 1973, even though the country has not yet admitted that it has nuclear weapons.
Today (2024), Tel Nof is home to two strike fighter jet and two transport helicopter squadrons as well as a drone squadron. Also located there is the Flight Test Center Manat with one example of all aircraft variants (see F-15I Eagle Ra'am in the gallery above and F-35I Adir in the gallery under "Units"). Several special units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are also located there, including Unit 669 Airborne Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) and the training center for the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade.
Unit 555, also known as the Sky Crows, which was one of Iran's target is the airborne electronic warfare unit of the Israeli Air Force. It was established in 1969 at the Lod Airbase. Currently, it is headquartered at the Tel Nof Airbase. It is one of the most classified units in the Israeli Air Force.
The unit's equipment is highly classified but is known to have been developed by the Defense industry of Israel.
he unit's main mission is to operate various airborne electronic warfare systems to help Israeli aircraft evade oppositional air defense systems as well as to destroy oppositional air defense systems in order to achieve air superiority.
MNA/6245938