Al Dhafra Air Base
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Al Dhafra Air Base (ADAB) is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates (). It hosts both UAE and United States military, located approximately twenty miles south of Abu Dhabi.
[edit] History
For Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the 363rd Provisional Wing, the forward-located echelon of the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing, deployed to Al Dhafra from Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, from August 9, 1990, to March 31, 1991. It directed the operations of three F-16 tactical fighter squadrons, the 17th and 33rd TFS from the 363rd TFW, and the 10th TFS deployed from the 50th TFW at Hahn Air Base, Germany.
The base also served as the location for Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) operations (Operation Locusta). A total of 10 Panavia Tornado IDS aircraft from 154° Gruppo (6° Stormo), 155° Gruppo (36° Stormo), and 156° Gruppo (50° Stormo) deployed from Brescia-Ghedi, Gioia del Colle and Piacenza-San Damiano respectively to Al Dhafra on October 2, 1990. Beginning the night of January 17-18, 1991, the Tornados flew 226 sorties in low-level counter-air missions against Iraqi airfields.
After Desert Storm the primary role of units at Al Dhafra AB was in-flight refueling missions for allied aircraft patrolling the southern Iraq "no-fly" zone as part of Operation Southern Watch.
The U.S. Air Force's Eagle Vision commercial satellite imagery ground station program deployed Eagle Vision 1 to Al Dhafra AB during both Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom for three months at a time to provide access to multiple commercial imagery satellites without having to use the limited communications pathways in the theater of operations.
