Cairo West Air Base | |||||||||
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Arabic: قاعدة غرب القاهرة الجوية | |||||||||
Cairo, Cairo Governorate in Egypt | |||||||||
Coordinates | 30°07′00″N30°55′00″E / 30.11667°N 30.91667°E | ||||||||
Type | Air Base | ||||||||
Site information | |||||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defense (Egypt) | ||||||||
Operator | Egyptian Air Force | ||||||||
Site history | |||||||||
Built | 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 of Cairo, Egypt. The air base shares some infrastructure with the adjacent Sphinx 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 a Royal Air Force installation ("Landing Ground 224"). No. 104 Squadron RAF flew Vickers Wellington bombers against retreating Axis forces from the base after the Battle of El Alamein. The last RAF unit was No. 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
After submission of the Fiscal Year 1981 budget, the United 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 the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, to Cairo West, in July 1980. [22]
On 29 May 1981 a Lockheed 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 the Egyptian Air Force, flying McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs. [24]
It has been a frequent site for United States Air Force deployments, with the 487th Air Expeditionary Wing located here in March-May 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Cairo West TACAN (Ident: BLA) is located on the field. [25]
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