Aviation News – June 2018

International Squadron, which worked from

Lod International Airport at the time. The

unit also operated the C-130 and Boeing

377 Stratocruiser.

By the end of the war, two more 707s

were leased from IAI for use as electronic

warfare aircraft and airborne relay stations.

When peace returned, the latter two were

returned to IAI and sold to foreign customers.

A year later, and based on the operational

success gained in 1973, the IAF decided to

acquire and convert more 707s.

On November 4, 1974 the squadron

officially stood up on the Boeing 707 and in

addition to the two already being used by

the unit it received another example on this

date. Three more followed during that year.

They were given the generic name Re’em

(oryx, antelope).

The  ight crew consisted then, and does still

today, of a pilot, co-pilot and a  ight engineer.

The 707 was initially used to move large

amounts of equipment and personnel to and

from Israel. This ability made IAF leaders

realise other military uses were possible,

including solving an increasing worry over

future in- ight refuelling of  ghters.

The air force’s ageing KC-97s Anak

(Giant) tankers needed replacement and the

IAF teamed up with IAI to produce a version

of the 707 to undertake this role. The US

had refused to sell Israel the KC-135 tanker

as it was viewed as a strategic platform.

The 707s were  tted with either a

refuelling boom or hose and drogue-type

external pods. The system of pods, which

was given the name Green Salad, was

used to service A-4 Skyhawks and F-4E

Phantoms. In the 1980s, when the  rst

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons

entered service, the IAF removed the pods

and installed them on its C-130  eet.

This was IAI’s  rst Israeli mass-produced

conversion programme. The company started

work on the  rst example, tail number 140, a

707-320 with JT4A engines, in 1985.

The IAF had begun purchasing more

and more 320B/320C sub-models from

1982, taken from a growing pool of retired

civilian aircraft from airlines including Air

China, South Africa Airlines, and even the

Moroccan Government. These aircraft

received serials in the 200 series.

At the same time older sub-models (the

120 and 320s) were retired by the IAF. Some

of the IAF 707s currently in service are

almost 40 years old and but have been

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 55

A VIP-con gured Boeing 707 at Heathrow in 1991. Note the various

antennas, lack of an air-to-air refuelling boom and the civilian

registration. AirTeamImages.com/Keith Blincow (ATI)

Boeing 707s have been

 own by Israel’s air force

since 1973. Rodrigo Traín

54-57_jetliners_707DC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 55 04/05/2018 11:35