H-3 Air Base
Encyclopedia
H-3 Air Base s part of a cluster of former Iraqi Air Force
bases in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq
. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The base was one of several Iraqi Air Force airfields built in the mid-1970s under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.
Companies from Yugoslavia - previously engaged in building bridges in Iraq - became involved in airfield construction. Due to their specific construction of these airfields - which included taxi-ways leading right out of Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS} and laid diagonally to the runways - they became known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos".
The facilities were divided into two categories: "surface" and "underground". The "surface" facilities were actually the "softest", and included maintenance hangars of metal construction, and HAS of concrete construction. In total, the Yugoslavs have built no less but 200 HAS on different airfields in Iraq during the 1980s.
The protection of each HAS consisted of one meter thick concrete shells, reinforced by 30cm thick steel plates. There was only one entrance and this was covered by sliding doors, made of 50cm thick steel armoured plate and concrete. The HAS' were usually built in small groups - seldom more than five, with each group sharing the same water and power supply, besides having own backup gasoline-powered electrical generator, and each HAS being equipped with a semi-automatic aircraft-refuelling system.
In addition, underground facilities that could shelter between four and ten aircraft on average were constructed. In order to build these the Yugoslavs used equipment and construction techniques identical to that use in underground oil-storage depots, additionally concealing the extension and the true purpose of the whole project. The underground facilities were all hardened to withstand a direct hit by a tactical nuclear bomb, buried up to 50 meters bellow the ground and consisted of the main aircraft "hangar" (consisting of two floors in several cases, connected by 40ts hydraulic lifts), connected with operations, maintenance, and logistical facilities via a net of underground corridors.
Chemical weapons were stored at the H-3 airfield (main) during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 according to declassified U.S. intelligence reports which describe Iraqi efforts to disperse chemical weapons by truck to other locations. The S-shaped bunker located at H-3 airfield (main) and the four at the H-3 ammunition storage facility were damaged or destroyed during Desert Storm. Of the 22 S-shaped bunkers located across Iraq, 10 had been destroyed as of 8 February 1991. It is not known whether the rest were subsequently destroyed.
In response to Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly Zone, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to strike an air defense command and control facility at a military airfield 240 miles west and slightly south of Baghdad, at approximately 2:30 a.m. EDT on 05 September 2002. Aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on the H3 airfield. The strikes were carried out by nine American F-15 Strike Eagles and three RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft flying from Kuwait. The attack on the air defence command and control facility was the first time that a target in western Iraq had been attacked during the patrols of the southern no-fly zone. According to press reports, about 100 US and British aircraft took part in the attack, making it the biggest single operation over the country in four years
The airfield was apparently abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force about 1995 and the remains were seized by Coalition ground forces in March 2003 after being abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force.
Current aerial imagery shows that the operational structures around the airfield and its 3 auxiliary airfields appear to be largely intact, with the runways being operational. The series of taxiways at the airfields remain exposed to the elements.
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
bases in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Overview
The H-3 Air Base is a cluster of airfields located in a remote stretch of Iraq's western desert, about 435 kilometers from Bagdad in western Iraq. It is close to the Syrian-Iraq border, and near the highway that connects Jordan with Baghdad.History
H-3 airfield was originally built to support the H-3 oil pumping station. H-3 Main is supported by two dispersal airfields, H-3 Southwest 32°44′48"N 039°35′59"E, and H-3 Northwest 33°04′34"N 039°35′52"E, and a Highway strip, 42 kilometers to the west 32°50′55"N 039°18′28"E. H-3 Southwest is served by a single 9,700 foot runway and has a parallel taxiway that could be used as an alternate runway.The base was one of several Iraqi Air Force airfields built in the mid-1970s under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.
Companies from Yugoslavia - previously engaged in building bridges in Iraq - became involved in airfield construction. Due to their specific construction of these airfields - which included taxi-ways leading right out of Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS} and laid diagonally to the runways - they became known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos".
The facilities were divided into two categories: "surface" and "underground". The "surface" facilities were actually the "softest", and included maintenance hangars of metal construction, and HAS of concrete construction. In total, the Yugoslavs have built no less but 200 HAS on different airfields in Iraq during the 1980s.
The protection of each HAS consisted of one meter thick concrete shells, reinforced by 30cm thick steel plates. There was only one entrance and this was covered by sliding doors, made of 50cm thick steel armoured plate and concrete. The HAS' were usually built in small groups - seldom more than five, with each group sharing the same water and power supply, besides having own backup gasoline-powered electrical generator, and each HAS being equipped with a semi-automatic aircraft-refuelling system.
In addition, underground facilities that could shelter between four and ten aircraft on average were constructed. In order to build these the Yugoslavs used equipment and construction techniques identical to that use in underground oil-storage depots, additionally concealing the extension and the true purpose of the whole project. The underground facilities were all hardened to withstand a direct hit by a tactical nuclear bomb, buried up to 50 meters bellow the ground and consisted of the main aircraft "hangar" (consisting of two floors in several cases, connected by 40ts hydraulic lifts), connected with operations, maintenance, and logistical facilities via a net of underground corridors.
Chemical weapons were stored at the H-3 airfield (main) during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 according to declassified U.S. intelligence reports which describe Iraqi efforts to disperse chemical weapons by truck to other locations. The S-shaped bunker located at H-3 airfield (main) and the four at the H-3 ammunition storage facility were damaged or destroyed during Desert Storm. Of the 22 S-shaped bunkers located across Iraq, 10 had been destroyed as of 8 February 1991. It is not known whether the rest were subsequently destroyed.
In response to Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly Zone, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to strike an air defense command and control facility at a military airfield 240 miles west and slightly south of Baghdad, at approximately 2:30 a.m. EDT on 05 September 2002. Aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on the H3 airfield. The strikes were carried out by nine American F-15 Strike Eagles and three RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft flying from Kuwait. The attack on the air defence command and control facility was the first time that a target in western Iraq had been attacked during the patrols of the southern no-fly zone. According to press reports, about 100 US and British aircraft took part in the attack, making it the biggest single operation over the country in four years
The airfield was apparently abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force about 1995 and the remains were seized by Coalition ground forces in March 2003 after being abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force.
Current aerial imagery shows that the operational structures around the airfield and its 3 auxiliary airfields appear to be largely intact, with the runways being operational. The series of taxiways at the airfields remain exposed to the elements.