kept in the air by
upgrades, including
engine replacements
to the JT3D turbofans.
That move brought
all aircraft to the
same engine type
and has helped cut
maintenance costs.VAR IANTS
Over its long term of service, the 707
operated with the IAF in many versions and
roles, some still classified. The most notable
variants are:
KC-707 – The tanker version of the 707
called Saknay (Pelican). The KC-707 was
the first tanker converted from a commercial
jet. The aircraft received IAI’s Multi-Mission
Tanker Transport (MMTT) configuration
system which meant they could easily be
converted to a passenger role. Technicians
are able to remove fuel tanks in the cabin
and the operator station and use the
internal space to put in seats for VIP and/or
personnel transport.
VC-707 – VIP and heads of state
configuration. The aircraft can be fitted
with either a VIP lounge and entourage
accommodation, or with an ordinary civil
aviation-seats layout for Israel Defense
Forces’ (IDF) personnel.
The aircraft is widely used in this
configuration to take service people to
Poland where they visit sites of Nazi
concentration camps from World War Two.
EC-707 – electronic warfare configuration
of the aircraft called Barbur (Swan).
Some 707s served as electronic warfare
and intelligence gathering platforms for
communication intelligence (COMINT) and
electronic intelligence (ELINT) work. They
were tasked as airborne relay stations and
airborne forward command posts for high
ranking officers in special operations. These
aircraft are distinguished by bulges on the
sides and the multiple antennas array on
the top of the fuselage. While their service
records and specification remain classified,
one aircraft is exceptionally famous due to its
unusual back story.
The 707 with the serial 137 was bought
by the IAF from Sabena in February 1977.It had been hijacked and flown to Israel’s
Lod International Airport in 1972 and its
passengers were held hostage. They were
rescued in a famous operation carried out
by Sayeret Matkal – an elite commando
unit. The aircraft served until 2006 and
was scrapped in 2010 after a long fight to
preserve it in the IAF’s museum.
Phalcon – an airborne early warningand control (AEW&C) variant and uses the
EL/M-2075 solid-state L-band conformal
array radar, designed for airborne air
traffic control, ELINT and COMINT. It was
developed and manufactured by ELTA and
IAI, using a modified 707 serial 246, as a
testbed.
Antennas are installed on the nose, tail
and both sides of the fuselage. Some ofthe most obvious
modifications made
to the aircraft are a
big bulbous nose,
and the bulges
around the tail and
behind the cockpit.
IAI also sold
the system on a
707, using a former
LanChile airliner, to
the Chilean Air Force, where it is known as
the Condor. There is no official confirmation
the Phalcon was used by the IAF but
according to non-Israeli sources, in 1994
when Israel retired the E-2C Hawkeye, the
707 Phalcon filled the gap until the G550
Nachshon entered service with the EL/W-
2085, the successor of the EL/M-2075.MORE OPERATIONS
Operation Wooden Leg was an attack
by Israel on the Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO) headquarters near Tunis,
Tunisia, on October 1, 1985. The target was
1,280 miles (2,060km) from Israel. Eight
F-15 Eagles that took off from Tel Nof AFB
were refuelled on the way to the target over
the Mediterranean Sea.
The strike aircraft received more fuel after
the strike in case they were forced into a
dogfight with Tunisian Air Force interceptors,
or an emergency developed.
Thanks to the refuelling tankers of
the 120th Sqn, this was the most distant,
publicly known action undertaken by the IDF
and the IAF since Operation Thunderbolt in
1976.
Operation Solomon was a secret airlift
to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel and was
conducted from May 24 to May 25, 1991.
Boeig 707s, along with C-130s plus El Al
and Ethiopian Airlines aircraft transported
14,000 Jews over 36 hours. During one of
the flights, a woman went in to labour and
her son now serves with the 120th Sqn that
airlifted him and his mother to safety.
Over the decades, the 707 has played a
part in every Israeli conflict, even carrying
out rocket-hunting missions during the 2006
Second Lebanon War. It also enabled strike
jets to remain in the air for long periods over
the target area.‘The strike aircraft
received more fuel
after the strike in
case they were
forced into a dogfight
with Tunisian Air
Force interceptors,
or an emergency
developed’
56 Aviation News incorporating Jets June 2018A Phalcon 707 returning from a test flight in 2010. It was originally intended to conduct airborne air traffic control, ELINT and COMINT. It is now
used as the testbed for the IAF’s Gulfstream G550 AEW aircraft.Aircraft s/n 290 rolling out at Ben Gurion
airport. This aircraft has been used for VIP
and ELINT missions since 2000. All photos
Noam Menashe unless stated54-57_jetliners_707DC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 56 04/05/2018 11:35