69 Squadron (Israel)
| 69 Squadron | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1948–1954, 1956, 1969–1994, 1998–Present |
| Country |
 Israel
|
| Branch |
 Israeli Air Force
|
| Role | Strike/Attack |
| Garrison/HQ | Hatzerim Airbase |
| Nickname(s) | The Hammers (Hebrew: פטישים, Patishim) |
| Colors | Black and Yellow |
| Equipment | F-15I Thunder |
| Engagements |
1948 Arab-Israeli War Suez Crisis War of Attrition Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War Second Lebanon War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Pinchas Ben-Porat Avihu Ben-Nun Yoram Agmon |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | F-4 Phantom II |
| Bomber | B-17 Flying Fortress |
The 69 "Hammers" Squadron is an Israeli Air Force squadron operating the F-15I Thunder out of Hatzerim. It was formed in July 1948 to operate three B-17 Flying Fortresses which the fledgling Israeli Air Force had acquired in the United States. The squadron flew the Flying Fortress, a type credited with propelling the IAF into the realm of modern aerial warfare, during both the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and 1956 Suez Crisis. Disbanded in early 1957, 69 Squadron reformed in 1969 to fly the F-4 Phantom II. 69 Squadron operated the Kurnass (Sledgehammer), as the Phantom was known in Israel, for 25 years and its Phantoms saw extensive action during the War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, First Lebanon War and numerous engagements in between. The squadron often played a central role in IAF suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) efforts and took part in repeated battles against Egyptian and Syrian air defence arrays.
The squadron retired its Phantoms in 1994 but reformed shortly thereafter to operate the F-15I Thunder. Described as the "long-range, heavy bombing element of Israeli air power", 69 Squadron is reputed to have carried out Operation Orchard, the 6 September 2007 airstrike on a nuclear site in Syria.
In early 1948, with the upcoming end of the British Mandate for Palestine and the looming confrontation with Israel's Arab neighbors, the leadership of the Yishuv embarked on a worldwide effort to purchase weapons. Despite an American arms embargo, Israeli acquisition agents managed to purchase four commercial B-17 Flying Fortresses in the US. Two were demilitarised and modified for freighter use by Aerodex Inc. of Miami, then sold unknowingly to a front company that said they would be used in the Caribbean. The first two departed the city on June 12, followed a day later by a third, and made their way first to Puerto Rico and then across the Atlantic via the Azores to Žatec, Czechoslovakia, where they arrived on June 14. By June 16 the story had made it to the press and the fourth plane, whose crew only barely managed to elude the FBI, was impounded in the Azores by Portuguese authorities. At Žatec the three B-17s, missing bomb shackles and sights, oxygen systems and defensive weapons, were militarized and the squadron that was to operate them, at the time referred to as the "Hammers Program", first took shape. Ray Kurtz, a former B-17 navigator with 31 missions over Europe, was assigned command of the squadron, staffed by an international crew of World War II veterans who volunteered to fight for Israel. Robert Luttrell, a sailor by trade, flying as a bombardier, recalled that for each mission the B-17s were given new markings and their armament was altered to lead the enemy to believe Israel possessed an entire squadron of the type.
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