69 Squadron (Israel)
Israeli Air Force squadron
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, an aircraft 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. 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.
The squadron retired its Phantoms in 1994 and reformed shortly thereafter to operate the F-15I Thunder. Described as the "long-range, heavy bombing element of Israeli air power", 69 Squadron, together with Squadrons 119 and 253, carried out Operation Outside the Box, the September 2007 airstrike on a nuclear site in Syria.
Formation and B-17 years
1948 Arab–Israeli War
In early 1948, before the establishment of the State of Israel, the Haganah ordered three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress planes from the United States through US Mahal operative Al Schwimmer, circumventing a US arms embargo during the 1948 Palestine war. Two were demilitarised and modified for freighter use by Aerodex Inc.
“69 Squadron (Israel)” enters the record as israeli Air Force squadron. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Squadron, Israel and Israeli can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2916908. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1956, 1957 and 1969.
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