Cairo West Air Base | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arabic:قاعدة غرب القاهرة الجوية | |||||||||
| Cairo,Cairo Governorate in Egypt | |||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defense (Egypt) | ||||||||
| Operator | Egyptian Air Force | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  Cairo West Air Base Shown within Egypt | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°07′00″N30°55′00″E / 30.11667°N 30.91667°E /30.11667; 30.91667 | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1941 (1941) | ||||||||
| In use | 1941 - present | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: | ||||||||
| Elevation | 168 metres (551 ft)[1]AMSL | ||||||||
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| Google Maps[2] GCM[3] SkyVector[4] | |||||||||
Cairo West AB (IATA:CWE,ICAO:HECW) is a military airport on the western side ofCairo,Egypt. The air base shares some infrastructure with the adjacentSphinx International Airport.
The base is home to the Egyptian Fighter Weapon School of 139 Air Division, 95 & 97 Squadrons of 292 Tactical Fighter Wing of 139 Air Division with F-16C/D's, 87 Squadron of 601 Air Wing of 159 Air Division with E-2C's and a detachment from 16 Squadron of 516 Air Wing of 159 Air Division with C-130H's.[1]
Originally aRoyal Air Force installation ("Landing Ground 224").No. 104 Squadron RAF flewVickers Wellington bombers against retreating Axis forces from the base after theBattle of El Alamein. The last RAF unit wasNo. 620 Squadron RAF's stay from 6 March to 14 June 1946 with the Halifax A.7.[5][6]
Landing Ground 224[7]
Kilo 26
Cairo West
The Air Base was temporarily put out service was it was one of the air bases in Egypt attacked simultaneously by the Israeli Air Force duringOperation Focus.
After submission of theFiscal Year 1981 budget, theUnited States Secretary of Defense/JCS - ordered "Proud Phantom," at a request to Egypt which was an unprogrammed tactical deployment, not part of the regular exercise program. Twelve F-4E Phantom IIs and at least 400 personnel were dispatched from the347th Tactical Fighter Wing atMoody Air Force Base, Georgia, to Cairo West, in July 1980.[22]
On 29 May 1981 aLockheed C-130 Hercules crashed after takeoff from the base.[23]
For a long period it has been frequently listed by aviation periodicals as the home of the 222nd Tactical Fighter Brigade of theEgyptian Air Force, flyingMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs.[24]
It has been a frequent site forUnited States Air Force deployments, with the487th Air Expeditionary Wing located here in March-May 2003 during the2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Cairo WestTACAN (Ident:BLA) is located on the field.[25]
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