Muwaffaq Salti Air Base: What Do We Know About the Jordanian Air Base Targeted by Iran?

Image caption, Training maneuvers at a military site in Azraq, Jordan, 2024

Article Information

Author, Yahya Kanakrieh, Role, BBC News Arabic - Amman

Published 4 hours ago

Reading time: 3 minutes

The "Martyr Muwaffaq Salti" Air Base, also known as Azraq Air Base, is considered one of the most important military installations in Jordan.

It serves as a main center for operations of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and has gained increasing regional importance in recent years amid security developments in the Middle East.

The base has made headlines during periods of military escalation in the region, after international reports indicated its use within military cooperation arrangements between Jordan, the United States, and the international coalition, while Jordanian authorities confirm it is a base belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

On Saturday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the deaths of two American service members in Jordan and the loss of a third, while they were participating in repelling Iranian attacks using ballistic missiles and drones.

CENTCOM said in a statement that the two soldiers were killed on Friday while carrying out their duties as part of operations conducted by US forces in cooperation with "partner forces" to repel Iranian attacks, while one service member remains missing.

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On Friday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced a drone attack targeting fuel tanks at Azraq Base in Jordan.

It indicated that it used missiles and drones to target aircraft shelters at the base, according to Iranian media.

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Strategic Location in the Heart of the Desert

The base is located in the Azraq area, about 100 kilometers northeast of the capital Amman, and its location grants the Jordanian Air Force the ability to cover vast areas of Jordanian airspace and the eastern and northern borders.

Historically, the base dates back to 1918, when Thomas Edward Lawrence used Azraq Castle as a military base, due to the suitability of the northern mudflats as an airstrip for aircraft supporting the advance northwards toward Daraa during the Great Arab Revolt. The area was characterized by good visibility and ideal flying weather.

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It was officially inaugurated by the late King Hussein bin Talal on May 24, 1981, and named in memory of Lieutenant Muwaffaq Salti, who was killed in an aerial battle with Israeli forces on November 13, 1966.

Largest Air Base in the Kingdom

According to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, Muwaffaq Salti Base is the largest air base in Jordan in terms of area, with a perimeter of about 35 kilometers, and includes a number of combat squadrons, maintenance facilities, technical support, and air defense.

The base also hosts F-16 fighter squadrons of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, which have become the backbone of the Jordanian air force since the late 1990s after gradually replacing Mirage aircraft.

The base's importance is not limited to aircraft operations; it also includes specialized facilities for the maintenance and upgrade of F-16 fighters.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force confirms that the maintenance units at the base are capable of carrying out complex structural repairs and technical upgrades in coordination with the manufacturer and US technical authorities, contributing to extending the operational life of the aircraft and maintaining their readiness.

Presence in International Coalition Operations

The base gained international attention with the escalation of the war against the Islamic State, as Western reports indicated its use by US forces within the international coalition's operations at that time.

Muwaffaq Salti Base is one of the military sites hosting a US presence in Jordan under defense cooperation arrangements between the two countries. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi recently said that there are American soldiers in Jordan within a military cooperation agreement between the Kingdom and the United States.

Defense reports have stated that the US Air Force used the base to host air units and manned and unmanned aircraft over the past years.

At the same time, the United States has not detailed the nature of all forces or equipment inside the base, which is common in military bases operating in tension zones.

In the same context, satellite images published by Reuters on various occasions showed an increase in the number of military aircraft at the base during periods of regional escalation, without an official Jordanian comment on the nature of those movements.

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